By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The estate of the late disco queen Donna Summer is suing Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign, alleging they used her song I Feel Love without permission.
The suit is being brought by Summer’s widower Bruce Sudano, who is also the executor of her estate.
Filed in California on Tuesday, the lawsuit alleges West and Ty initially asked for permission to sample and use parts of “I Feel Love” on their song “Good (Don’t Die),” and were explicitly denied that permission.
However, the song “Good (Don’t Die)” did come out on the duo’s new album Vultures 1 in early February, featuring a female voice singing altered lyrics to the melody of “I Feel Love.” After that release, a furious Sudano took to social media to call out the rappers.
“@kanyewest asked permission to use Donna Summer’s song I Feel Love, he was denied… he changed the words, had someone re sing it or used AI but it’s I Feel Love… copyright infringement!!!” he wrote.
The streaming app Spotify reacted by removing the song, but it returned to the platform at the end of February with different album art until it was pulled down once more.
That’s also when the estate filed its lawsuit, alleging the rappers “decided they would simply steal” her song, “and use it without permission” on their album Vultures.
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The lawsuit also explains why the estate turned down the request in the first place, citing “the immense commercial value of the I Feel Love composition, but also the potential degradation to Summer’s legacy. West is known as a controversial public figure whose conduct has led numerous brands and business partners to disassociate from him … the Summer estate sought to protect the valuable intellectual property … from any public association with the negative publicity surrounding West.”
The lawsuit claims that West and Ty Dolla $ign then sought permission via Universal Music Group, but were again denied. “In the face of these repeated denials, West and co-defendants attempted to get around this roadblock by instead making an unauthorised interpolation,” the lawsuit alleges. “West and his co-defendants used the song’s iconic melody as the hook for their infringing song and essentially re-recorded almost verbatim key, instantly recognisable, portions of I Feel Love using a singer soundalike to Summer, with slight changes to the lyrics (also done without permission).”
The estate says the suit is not about the payment of licensing fees, but rather the ability of an artist to decide how their works are used. In that sense, this suit is similar to several disputes in which musical artists have refused to give permission to former President Donald Trump, who allegedly used several songs during his political campaigns without obtaing permission or a license to do so. Several of those musicians sent cease and desist letters, and singer Eddy Grant famously filed a lawsuit against Trump.
In a similar vein, the Summer’s estate says this case 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.”
Sudano is not the only person to have issues with West and Ty over the Vultures album. Former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne said he also refused permission for West to sample Black Sabbath “because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many.”
Nicki Minaj also blocked the release of the song New Body which she featured on and which had previously leaked, saying: “Why would I put out a song that has been out for three years?”
West and Ty Dolla $ign have not commented on the lawsuit.