Kanye West has been hit with more than a dozen copyright infringement lawsuits over his controversial career. Now one has reached a jury, with the artist now known as Ye expected to testify later this week.
On Monday, a panel of eight jurors heard opening statements in a federal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles. From the plaintiffs’ lead lawyer, jurors heard that Ye should pay $564,046 in damages for using an uncleared sample titled “MSD PT2” in an early version of his Grammy-winning song “Hurricane,” which was played for tens of thousands of fans during a listening event for his 10th studio album, Donda, held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in July 2021.
From Ye’s lead lawyer, jurors heard that the rap star was merely conducting a “test drive” of the sample with the “implied consent” of the four musicians who created it. Ye’s lawyer said the evidence would show the men were “happy one of the biggest stars” was “experimenting” with their music and knew, or should have known, that any compensation would depend on what appeared in the final version of “Hurricane” released on Donda in August 2021.
The four musicians — Khalil Abdul-Rahman, Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff, and Josh Mease — are suing Ye through a company formed in 2024, Artist Revenue Advocates. Their lawsuit initially alleged infringement of both the composition and the sound recording of their one-minute instrumental track, “MSD PT2,” but the case was later narrowed to a single claim involving the use of the recording at the stadium in Atlanta. Their composition infringement claims were dismissed after it was determined the men had previously entered into agreements governing their composition royalties that remained in effect.
Irene Lee, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Ye used the sample without permission or payment. She acknowledged her clients were initially “excited” when they learned Ye was interested in their work. But “what they were offered was not fair,” she argued, and the fact remains they never approved any commercial use of the sample.
“They trusted that they would be treated professionally,” she said, explaining they voluntarily shared the sample with one of Ye’s producers with the expectation they would be “compensated fairly” if it was used. In the end, Lee said, Ye’s team “snubbed” and “ghosted” them after the song gained traction. Even though the sample was not included on Donda, Lee said it was clearly infringed at the listening event.
Lee said the request for $564,046 in damages was based on the claim that “Hurricane” was the “most anticipated” song performed at the July 2021 event after Ye spent years teasing the track, even posting a snippet on Instagram. She said an expert calculated that the listening event generated roughly $5.5 million for Ye through ticket sales, merchandise, a $1.25 million streaming deal with Apple Music, and sales tied to a jacket Ye wore onstage that was released immediately after through his Yeezy apparel partnership with Gap. She said the damages figure represented 10 percent of the total revenue.
“This is such a remarkable trial,” Lee told the jury. “We have a clear admission, under oath from Ye, that he actually used our client’s copyright-protected music.”
When it was his turn, Ye’s lawyer, Eduardo Martorell, said the plaintiffs were “trying to jump industries” by seeking a share of apparel profits. He said Ye’s global fame and more than 60 Grammy nominations drove the listening party ticket sales, “not a one-minute and one-second instrumental.”
“We don’t think we should be here,” Martorell told the jurors. “This lawsuit should never have been filed. The artists led my client to believe he had permission to use their music every step of the way.”
Daniel Seeff, the bass player on the sample, was the first witness called to the stand Monday afternoon. “I’m here today to tell our story,” he said. “[MSD PT2] is the basis of ‘Hurricane.’ All the music you hear in ‘Hurricane’ comes from that. It’s repeated.”
It wasn’t clear on Monday when Ye will testify, but the trial is slated to last a week. Ye recently took the stand at a different trial a block away in downtown Los Angeles. During that state trial, Ye appeared to doze off while he was being questioned by the lawyer for Tony Saxon, the man who was awarded $140,000 for injuries suffered while working at the rapper-producer’s $57 million Malibu beach home.