The legal woes continue for Kanye West. Earlier Thursday it was reported that the 41-year-old producer, rapper, and designer had been sued by a man claiming that West used an unauthorized sample of his voice for a song on Kids See Ghosts. Well, the legal tumult only seemed to get worse for West later in the evening.
According to TMZ, the Ye rapper is being sued by his longtime music publisher EMI. As we noted last month, West and EMI have been engaged in a dispute for some time now. West has said that he feels his deal with the publisher amounts to a form of “servitude” and filed a lawsuit against the company in an attempt to extract himself from the agreement. Earlier this week, the exact strictures of West’s contract company were released to the public and it was revealed that, contractually-speaking, West isn’t actually allowed to retire.
At first glance, that bombshell would seem to support West’s argument. EMI, however, doesn’t see it that way. On Thursday, the company filed a lawsuit of their own against the rapper. According to TMZ, the company said that since West first signed with them in 2003, the rapper has “signed seven different modifications and/or extensions to the deal.”
And while West claims that the contract is subject to California law which prohibits contracts longer than seven years, EMI claims that New York state law governs the contracts. If EMI prevails, West will have to stick to their agreement and continue to share his publishing rights with the company for the duration of his career.
