Donna Summer‘s widower Bruce Sudano is reflecting on his legal back-and-forth with Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign over the usage of Summer’s Seventies classic “I Feel Love.”
In a new interview with Billboard, Sudano revealed that West’s team had reached out to Summer’s estate to use “I Feel Love” for “Good (Don’t Die),” and that he ultimately turned them down. West ended up still using the sample, though with another person’s voice and different lyrics. The Summer estate ended up suing the rapper for “blatant theft” in late February.
“Kanye’s people sent me an mp3 and I decided, ‘No, this is not a good fit,’” Sudano told the outlet. “I go back to them and say no, then, ‘How much do you want?’ It’s not about the money. It’s just not a good fit.”
“Then it comes out and it’s no longer Donna singing and he’s changed the lyric and has somebody sing the same melody — now it’s ‘Ooh, I’m alive I’m alive I’m alive I’m alive,’ and I say this is copyright infringement,” he continued. “And once it’s out, it’s out. So I brought a complaint and we’ll see where that road leads. I respect Kanye as an artist, but this is just wrong.”
The Summer estate sued West and Ty Dolla $ign, accusing the duo of “shamelessly” stealing the hook from the disco classic for the Vultures track. “In the face of this rejection, defendants arrogantly and unilaterally decided they would simply steal “I Feel Love” and use it without permission,” the lawsuit read.
Sudano told Billboard that he’s been open to musicians sampling Summer’s work in the past and that Beyoncé even insisted on playing the sample on “Summer Renaissance” in person for him to approve it.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation,” said Sudano. “All of these things are very subjective. I try to view it through Donna’s lens and how she would protect her catalog in the right way. Kanye is a great artist, but wrong is still wrong.”
Sudano explained that there is “a lot of thievery that still goes on” but that he felt like he needed to “take a stand” against the usage of the song for “all those other people as well.”
Before he filed the lawsuit, Sudano posted about the dispute on social media and said he was assessing his legal options. “I intend to protect to Donna’s copyright,” he told Rolling Stone in a phone interview.
