Back in November 2022, Kanye West was sued by rights holders over an unauthorized sample of pioneering rap group Boogie Down Productions’ 1987 hit “South Bronx” on Kanye’s album, Donda. The sample allegedly appeared on the song “Life Of The Party” after Kanye first submitted, then retracted, a licensing request the year before.
According to Billboard, that lawsuit has now been settled. Both sides have agreed to dismiss the case, with each paying their own legal fees, although the terms of the settlement and any exchange of rights, royalties, etc. were not revealed.
Phase One Network, the group that owns Boogie Down’s copyrights, had alleged “final clearance for use of ‘South Bronx’ in the infringing track was never authorized,” but that “the infringing track was nevertheless reproduced, sold, distributed, publicly performed and exploited.” Meanwhile, Kanye’s lawyers argued that BDP frontman KRS-One had promised the free use of his catalog to “all MCs” in the 2006 documentary The Art of 16 Bars, in which he publicly stated “you will not get sued” for sampling his music.
Of course, KRS does not own the catalog which he freely offered, so his standing to make such a claim was derided as “bizarre” by Phase One’s attorneys. While Kanye West has since been dismissed from the case, the lawsuit will still continue against the makers of Kanye’s Stem Player, KANO, who were included for their role in distributing the album. A spokesperson for KANO told Rolling Stone in 2022, “The KANO and STEM team were assured by Kanye and Yeezy that they would provide music with ‘all intellectual property rights, licenses and consents.'”
