Boogie Down Productions
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It seems Kanye West has one less legal issue to worry about. The rapper is no longer liable in a lawsuit over a Boogie Down Productions sample.
As spotted on Digital Music News, Kanye has apparently come to an agreement over his song âLife Of The Party.â The track, which was recorded for the original version of Donda but saw daylight on the deluxe version, featured what seemed to be elements from Boogie Down Productionsâ classic single âSouth Bronx.â Back in 2022, Phase One Network claimed that âLife Of The Partyâ featured an âexact reproductionâ of horn parts, drums and a melody from BDPâs 1987 anthem. âThis appears to be an ongoing practice of Mr. West, using other peopleâs music without paying for it,â Phase Oneâs attorney Gary Adelman of Adelman Matz said at the time. âUsing music without permission violates the copyright law and hurts artists.â
In June, Kanye Westâs legal team requested the artist be removed from the lawsuit citing that Ye was âcreating the track and experimenting with it, with the intent to contact the license holder for approval as evidence by such act, is undoubtedly fair use.â On Monday, Aug. 19, Reuters reported that Kanye West and Phase One Network had agreed to dismiss him from the filing but will still pursue Kano Computing, the maker of the Stem Player.
You can listen to âLife Of The Partyâ below.
Ye (formerly Kanye West) has reached a settlement in a copyright lawsuit that accused him of using an uncleared sample from the pioneering rap group Boogie Down Productions in his song âLife of the Party.â
In court documents filed Monday, attorneys for both sides agreed that Ye should be dismissed from the case, with each side to pay their own legal bills. No other terms of the agreement were disclosed publicly, and neither side immediately returned requests for comment.
The Boogie Down lawsuit was one of more than a dozen such cases that have been filed against Ye over claims of unlicensed sampling or interpolating during his prolific career. The controversial rapper has faced nine such infringement cases since 2019 alone, including a high-profile battle with estate of Donna Summer that settled earlier this year.
Filed in November 2022, the current lawsuit was lodged by Phase One Network, the group that owns Boogie Downâs copyrights, over allegations that Ye had used incorporated key aspects from the 1986 song âSouth Bronxâ into âLife of the Party,â which was released on his 2021album Donda.
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Echoing several other sampling lawsuits against Ye, Phase One claimed that the rapperâs representatives had reached out to legally clear the use of the Boogie Down song â but then released it anyway when a deal was never struck.
âThe communications confirmed that âSouth Bronxâ had been incorporated into the infringing track even though West had yet to obtain such license,â Phase Oneâs lawyers wrote. âDespite the fact that final clearance for use of âSouth Bronxâ in the infringing track was never authorized, the infringing track was nevertheless reproduced, sold, distributed, publicly performed and exploited.â
Last summer, attorneys for Ye fought back with an unusual argument: That Boogie Down founder KRS-One had publicly promised all future rappers that âyou will not get suedâ over sampling the groupâs catalog. They cited a 2006 documentary called The Art of 16 Bars, in which KRS-One said âI give to all MCs my entire catalogue.â
Phase One later called that a âbizarre argument,â noting that, when the documentary was made, KRS-One didnât actually own the music he was claiming to place in the public domain: âMovants cite to no law to support such a theory. KRS-One also could not have placed the Work in the public domain as he did not own it.â
Following Mondayâs agreement, Ye and his Yeezy LLC will be dropped from the lawsuit but the case will continue against other several defendants, including the company behind the Stem Player platform on which the song was allegedly released.
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