Kanye West has settled the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the Donna Summer estate over their "unauthorised interpolation" of the disco icon's ‘I Feel Love’ on the ‘Vultures 1’ project, as confirmed. The lawsuit, which also involved Ty Dolla $ign, arose from the use of Summer's hit song without permission.
According to court documents, attorneys for both parties announced they had "entered into a settlement agreement that is a full and final settlement of all of the claims in the action," with each side bearing its own legal costs. The settlement marks the conclusion of a contentious legal battle that began earlier this year.
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Larry Stein, lead counsel for the Summer estate, emphasised that the agreement does not grant West (professionally known as Ye) future rights to use the late singer's material. "We did not licence the song," Stein said. "As part of the settlement, they have agreed not to distribute or otherwise use the song. So we got what we wanted."
The lawsuit detailed the estate's shock upon discovering that ‘Vultures 1’ included an interpolation of ‘I Feel Love’, despite West and Ty Dolla $ign being expressly refused permission multiple times. The filing accused the collaborators of trying to circumvent the denials by creating an unauthorised version, incorporating the iconic melody and key parts of Summer's song without permission.
Following the lawsuit, the infringing recording was removed from major streaming platforms and distributors. The issue gained further public attention when Sudano, Summer's widower, posted on X about West's unauthorised use of the song, accusing him of copyright infringement.
This settlement comes amid other legal troubles for the West. His former personal assistant sued him for sexual harassment and wrongful termination. West, through a representative, has denied the allegations and threatened to file his lawsuit, although court records do not show any such filing at this time.
-Sushmita Sarkar
