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Three months after being sued for allegedly using a sample without permission, Kanye West has asked for the case to be thrown out, according to The Blast. Per the report with court documents obtained, the multitalented producer requested the court to dismiss the case as he admits he didn’t need permission for a sample used for the Kids See Ghost track, “Freeee (Ghost Town Pt. 2).”
West — along with Kid Cudi, Ty Dolla $ign, Universal Music, and Def Jam — was sued by actor Ronald Oslin Bobb-Semple for sampling his recording of “The Spirit of Marcus Garvey (Garvey speaks to an all-Black audience)” without his permission. Bobb-Semple claims that his 2002 work was taken by West and Cudi and “exploited the actual voice, words and performance of Bobb-Semple, without authorization.”
West and Cudi’s representatives responded to the matter, claiming there was no need to ask for permission as West believes the work falls under fair use. West would later say that his actions were “innocent” and want the case to be thrown out immediately. They will also claim that Bob-Semple’s claims are “barred by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” while believing he is improperly using the copyright definition, per a report from Billboard.
Kids See Ghost, the collaborative album from Ye and Cudi, released on June 8, 2018, made its debut on the Billboard 200 at No. 2 in its first week. The album features contributions from the aforementioned Ty Dolla $ign, Pusha T, and Yasiin Bey.
