{"id":10669,"date":"2026-05-13T08:12:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/kanye-west-loses-trial-over-sample-used-in-donda-song-hurricane\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T08:12:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:12:05","slug":"kanye-west-loses-trial-over-sample-used-in-donda-song-hurricane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/kanye-west-loses-trial-over-sample-used-in-donda-song-hurricane\/","title":{"rendered":"Kanye West Loses Trial Over Sample Used in ‘Donda’ Song ‘Hurricane’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tA jury says Ye (formerly Kanye West) must pay a six-figure damages award for failing to clear a sample included in an early version of the Grammy-winning song \u201cHurricane\u201d from his chart-topping album Donda<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Tuesday (May 12) verdict, which followed a weeklong trial, held Ye and his companies liable for infringing the copyrighted instrumental track \u201cMSD PT2\u201d on an early demo of \u201cHurricane,\u201d which the rapper played to a stadium of fans at a pre-release Donda <\/em>listening party in 2021. Jurors said Ye must share a cut of his profits from that listening party, held in Atlanta and streamed live on Apple Music, with the sample\u2019s owners.<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe final amount of those damages was not immediately clear. According to Rolling Stone<\/a><\/em>, jurors held Ye personally liable for $176,153 and awarded damages of $176,153, $41,625 and $44,627 against three of the rapper\u2019s companies. If combined, this would make for a total verdict of $438,558.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, Ye\u2019s team insists that the corporate damages will be folded into Ye\u2019s own liability for a total award of $176,153.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is a failed shakedown,\u201d said a Yeezy spokesperson in a statement to Billboard<\/em>. \u201cSix months ago, they wanted $30 million out of Ye. They got 0.5% of that today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Yeezy spokesperson said the plaintiffs spent millions of dollars in legal fees for this outcome. \u201cThe moral of the story? There is a cost attached to thinking you can take advantage of Ye,\u201d added the spokesperson. <\/p>\n

\n\tA rep for the plaintiffs did not immediately return a request for comment on the verdict. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe lawsuit dates back to 2024, when the producers of \u201cMSD PT2\u201d \u2014 DJ Khalil (Khalil Abdul-Rahman), Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff and Josh Mease \u2014 sued Ye through a business entity called Artist Revenue Advocates LLC. Initially, they were seeking royalties from the commercially successful final versions of both \u201cHurricane\u201d and fellow Donda track \u201cMoon,\u201d alleging that both songs interpolated \u201cMSD PT2\u2033 without approval.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, a judge dismissed the bulk of the lawsuit in February after determining that Artist Revenue Advocates owns only the \u201cMSD PT2\u201d master recording rights, not the composition rights. This means that while the company can sue over a sample<\/em>, it does not have any standing to bring claims over an interpolation<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe judge, therefore, allowed a narrow trial to go forward only on the early \u201cHurricane\u201d demo, which did include a direct sample, but not the far more lucrative final songs, which only included interpolations. Artist Revenue Advocates plans to eventually appeal the decision in the hopes of restoring the full lawsuit \u2014 but in the meantime, the company sought $500,000 in damages from Ye\u2019s listening party profits, encompassing a slice of ticket sales, merch and an Apple Music livestreaming deal.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring the trial, which began on May 4 in Los Angeles federal court, Ye\u2019s lawyers argued that the case was meritless because his team tried to clear the \u201cMSD PT2\u201d sample, but that the four producers intentionally dragged their feet and refused to approve industry-standard splits. They also pointed out that the plaintiffs had already collected some royalties from various publishers.<\/p>\n

\n\tYe himself testified in court that he \u201cwent through the normal process\u201d to clear the \u201cMSD PT2\u201d sample.\u201d The rapper told jurors that he\u2019s \u201cvery generous\u201d about giving credit and royalties to collaborators when it\u2019s due, but lamented, \u201cI feel like a lot of people try to take advantage of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe jury ultimately sided with Artist Revenue Advocates and against Ye. Jurors did not give an explanation for their verdict, as is typical.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis was far from the only copyright lawsuit Ye has faced throughout his career; the rapper has been sued dozens of times over the years for allegedly using unlicensed samples and interpolations in his music. This was, however, the first time he\u2019d taken a legal battle all the way to trial, as he\u2019s historically opted to settle the majority of claims.<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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