Kanye West, now known as Ye, is facing a new copyright lawsuit over allegations that an unauthorized audio sample from his 2013 confrontation with paparazzi was used in a 2024 song with French Montana. The lawsuit also names several producers and music companies connected to the track.
The lawsuit claims Kanye and French Montana used audio from a 2013 paparazzi confrontation without authorization
Billboard reported that celebrity photo agency Bauer-Griffin filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court on July 15. The complaint alleged that Ye, French Montana, producers Dem Jointz and BoogzDaBeast, Gamma, Vydia, and others used audio from Ye’s 2013 confrontation with a paparazzo in the song Where They At, which appeared on French Montana’s Mac & Cheese 5.
According to Billboard, the sampled audio came from a May 2013 video of Ye confronting photographers outside a Los Angeles restaurant. Kim Kardashian, who was pregnant at the time, appeared in the footage standing nearby. In the footage, Ye shouted, “don’t take no f—in’ photos” before yelling additional profanities. The lawsuit described the use of the clip as “blatant and willful” copyright infringement.
According to the publication, Bauer-Griffin argued the footage had significant news value because of Ye’s history of confrontations with paparazzi. The agency’s attorneys wrote, “Given Mr. Ye’s history of numerous confrontations with paparazzi, the video was highly newsworthy.” They added, “Listeners immediately recognized the audio sample that begins the infringing record as being copied from the video.”
The report also noted that Ye has previously faced more than a dozen lawsuits involving alleged unlicensed samples, including a recent case over an early version of Hurricane. During that trial, he testified that he was “very generous” about giving credit and compensation when appropriate but believed “a lot of people try to take advantage of me.”
The publication also said Bauer-Griffin argued there was no excuse for using the recording without a license. The complaint stated, “In the music industry, copyrights are prevalent and well understood.” It continued, “Every defendant knew that they needed to have but did not have permission to use the audio sample.”
The lawsuit also stated that Bauer-Griffin has owned the rights to the footage since it was first published online with the agency’s watermark. According to the report, representatives for Ye and French Montana did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ARTISTS SHOULD FACE STRICTER CONSEQUENCES FOR ALLEGEDLY USING UNCLEARED SAMPLES IN THEIR MUSIC?
