A Hungarian artist is seeking more than $2.5 million from Kanye West, saying the rap superstar\u2019s track \u201cNew Slaves\u201d sampled his music without permission or royalties.<\/p>\n
Gabor Presser, who described himself as a \u201cliving legend\u201d in Hungary, said that West\u2019s lawyers put \u201cextraordinary time pressure\u201d on him to sign off quickly on use of the song which appeared on his 2013 \u201cYeezus\u201d album.<\/p>\n
In a lawsuit filed this week in a New York court, Presser asked for a jury trial and sought a minimum of $2.5 million in damages plus legal expenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Slaves,\u201d a political track with a critique of contemporary racism that features singer Frank Ocean, was the first single of \u201cYeezus,\u201d on which West pursued a harder-edged sound inspired by the drill scene in his native Chicago.<\/p>\n
To promote the album ahead of its release, West projected a video of \u201cNew Slaves\u201d on 66 buildings around the world.<\/p>\n
Presser said that around one-third of \u201cNew Slaves\u201d is a sample from the 1969 song \u201cGyongyhaju Lany\u201d by Omega, the leading Hungarian rock band in which he was then the keyboardist.<\/p>\n
West acknowledged use of the song but, in the lawsuit, Presser said that the rapper\u2019s lawyers tried to force him to give permission within 24 hours, apparently due to the timeline for the video projections.<\/p>\n
Presser said he needed more time and that West\u2019s lawyers refused to negotiate \u201cin good faith,\u201d instead sending him a $10,000 check as an advance with the expectation of an agreement.<\/p>\n
The Hungarian artist said he did not accept the advance and had continued trying to reach an arrangement with West\u2019s lawyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefendant Kanye West knowingly and intentionally misappropriated plaintiff\u2019s composition for use in \u2018New Slaves.\u2019 After his theft was discovered, defendants refused to deal fairly with plaintiff,\u201d the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n
West has not responded to the lawsuit. \u201cYeezus\u201d went to number one in several countries and was certified platinum in the United States, meaning it has sold more than one million copies.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit said that West\u2019s tour in support of \u201cYeezus\u201d generated some $35 million.<\/p>\n
West, who is married to reality television star Kim Kardashian, earlier this year said he was $53 million in debt and needed money to bring his \u201cbeautiful ideas to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samples are commonplace in hip-hop but artists are expected to seek permission for taking elements of recordings.<\/p>\n
Another Hungarian, folk singer Monika Juhasz Miczura, has filed a separate lawsuit against Beyonce for allegedly sampling her music without even seeking permission for \u201cDrunk in Love,\u201d her hit with rapper husband Jay-Z.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Hungarian artist is seeking more than $2.5 million from Kanye West, saying the rap superstar\u2019s track \u201cNew Slaves\u201d sampled his music without permission or royalties. Gabor Presser, who described himself as a \u201cliving legend\u201d in Hungary, said that West\u2019s lawyers put \u201cextraordinary time pressure\u201d on him to sign off quickly on use of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":217147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[137],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n