Kanye West has reached a settlement in a copyright lawsuit accusing him of using an uncleared sample from Boogie Down Productions in his track “Life of the Party.”
Court documents filed reveal that attorneys for both sides agreed to dismiss Kanye West from the case, with each party responsible for their own legal expenses.
Specific terms of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed, and neither party has responded to requests for comment.
The lawsuit, filed in November 2022 by Phase One Network the entity that holds the copyright for Boogie Down Productions alleged that West used key elements from the 1986 song “South Bronx” in “Life of the Party,” a track from his 2021 album Donda.
Phase One claimed that although West’s team attempted to negotiate clearance for the sample, the track was released without proper authorization.
Phase One’s lawyers argued that the song was reproduced, sold, and performed without final clearance.
In response, Kanye’s legal team argued that Boogie Down founder KRS-One had publicly declared that the group’s catalog was free for sampling.
However, Phase One dismissed this argument as flawed, noting KRS-One did not own the rights to the music in question at the time of his statement.
Following the settlement, Kanye West and his Yeezy LLC have been removed from the lawsuit, but legal action will continue against other defendants, including the Stem Player platform associated with the song’s release.
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