Kanye West finds himself in legal hot water again after a record company accused the megastar rapper/producer of illegally sampling copyrighted material, although there were legal exchanges made between the parties reports Courthouse News.
Record label TufAmerica, already going after Beastie Boys for copyright infringement earlier this year, filed a claim in Manhattan courts that allege West improperly used the songs from the company catalog for his smash album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
The songs in question, “Who Will Survive In America” and “Lost In The World,” both used sections of New Orleans R&B great Eddie Bo’s “Hook & Sling” parts 1 and 2. TufAmerica acquired the rights to the 1969 tracks back in 1996. Based on the filing from TufAmerica, Roc-A-Fella and Universal Music Group paid the company $62, 500 in licensing fees – but “failed and refused to enter into written license agreements that accounted for their multiple other uses of [‘Hook & Sling’],” according to the filed complaint in federal court.
TufAmerica is seeking damages of an unspecified amount from Roc-A-Fella and UMG Recordings for copyright infringement. No word from Kanye West’s camp over the lawsuit. This would be the fifth time West would have to deal with sampling issues, the last occurring back in April after Robert Pointdexter of the Persuaders sought $500,000 from the Chicago native over the use of the band’s “Trying Girls Out” track for a “Girls Girls Girls” remix.
