Donna Summer’s family is feeling the opposite of love for Kanye West. In a new lawsuit filed Tuesday, Summer’s husband Bruce Sudano alleges West and collaborator Ty Dolla $ign engaged in “blatant theft” when they sampled Summer’s iconic 1977 hit “I Feel Love” on their recently released Vultures 1 song “Good (Don’t Die).”
The copyright infringement complaint says West and Ty Dolla $ign, whose legal name is Tyrone Griffin, “shamelessly” stole the instantly recognizable hook from Summer’s disco classic after they asked for permission to use it and were “explicitly denied.” The lawsuit says the estate “wanted no association with West’s controversial history.”
“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 obtained by Rolling Stone states. “Defendants re-recorded almost verbatim the key, memorable portions of Summer’s iconic song, used it as the hook for their own song, and released it to the public knowing they had tried and failed to secure legal permission from its rightful owners and had no legal right to do so.” Sudano, the executor of his late wife’s estate, says the “willful copyright infringement” entitles Summer’s heirs, including her three daughters, to “maximum” damages.
Attempts to reach reps for West were not immediately successful Tuesday.
“This lawsuit is about more than defendants’ mere failure to pay the appropriate licensing fee for using another’s musical property. It is also about the rights of artists to decide how their works are used and presented to the public, and the need to prevent anyone from simply stealing creative works when they cannot secure the right to use them legally. In this case, it is about protecting Donna Summer’s own musical legacy and one of popular music’s most influential and ground-breaking songs,” the lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles states.
Before he filed, 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. Asked if the estate denied West’s request due to the rapper’s recent controversies, including his antisemitic statements, Sudano declined to comment further.
It was in October 2022 that West, also known as Ye, tweeted his now-infamous plan to “go death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.” He later apologized in an Instagram post written in Hebrew, but he again promoted antisemitic ideology, sporting a T-shirt for the Norwegian metal musician Burzum, who has been fined for antisemitism. West also promoted Vultures 1 with artwork that evoked Burzum’s cover art.
Ozzy Osbourne and wife Sharon Osbourne weren’t buying Ye’s apology when they took to social media earlier this month to blast West’s unauthorized “Iron Man” sample in the Vultures 1 song “Carnival.” “Kanye West asked permission to sample a section of a 1983 live performance of ‘Iron Man’ from the Us Festival without vocals & was refused permission because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many,” the singer wrote in capital letters. “He went ahead and used the sample anyway at his album listening party last night. I want no association with this man!”
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Osbourne said he felt compelled to take a stand.
