Kanye West is making headlines yet again, this time for allegedly sampling the sermon of a pastor from Texas in his Donda track, ‘Come To Life’, without going through the proper channels to obtain permission to do so.
According to sources, the pastor, Bishop David Paul Moten, is suing West, UMG Recordings, Def Jam Recordings and G.O.O.D Music for allegedly sampling audio of his sermon without first seeking permission.
Allegedly, this does not fall under fair use laws, as West used the sermon for 70 seconds on the track, which is more than 20% of the song’s length. Due to this, the Bishop is taking legal action against the rapper for “willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission.”
This isn’t the first time this has happened to West. In fact, this isn’t even the first time in the past few months, with the rights holders to the King Crimson sample in Kanye West’s song ‘Power’, from the 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, announced they were suing Universal Music Group for royalties on that song as well.
King Crimson’s Robert Flipp says, “There is a longer story to be told, and likely to astound innocents and decent, ordinary people who believe that one is paid equitably for their work, and on the appointed payday. This dispute has been dragging on for several years, unnecessarily IMO.”
Although both lawsuits have yet to play out, it’ll be interesting to see what results in the challenging of rights for this material. If you’re interested to hear the song in question, you can find Donda’s ‘Come To Life’ down below and see for yourself what Bishop David Paul Moten is talking about.
