A Texas preacher has reportedly accused of Ye of using his voice on a Donda track without his permission.
Bishop David Paul Moten filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Texas Northern District Court in Dallas against Ye as well as UMG Recordings and its properties Def Jam Recordings and G.O.O.D Inc. alleging copyright infringement and unjust enrichment.
Moten, who preaches at The Joy of The Lord Worship Center in Victoria, Texas, alleged that “Come To Life” contains “repeated, unauthorized, unlicensed samples” of one of his sermons.
“Approximately one minute and ten seconds (1:10) of this sound recording is sampled directly from Plaintiff’s sermon and appears to run on a loop underscoring the pre-chorus and chorus throughout the song in question,” reads the claim, viewed by iHeartRadio.ca. “Consequently, no twenty percent (20%) of the entire sound recording ‘Come to Life’ is comprised of unauthorized, unlicensed samples of the Sermon.”
Moten alleged that Ye and the other defendants “willfully and without the permission or consent of plaintiff extensively sampled portions of the sermon.
“Over the span of several years, defendants have demonstrated an alarming pattern and practice of willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission.”
Ye was accused in 2019 of sampling a young girl praying in his 2016 track “Ultralight Beam” without her adoptive parents’ consent or adequate compensation. The case was settled in 2020.
In March, Ye was sued in the UK for allegedly failing to pay royalties for a sample of King Crimson’s “Power.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
“Come To Life," credited to Ye, Jeff Bhasker, Warryn Campbell, Mark Williams and Raul Cubina, appears on Donda, which was released last August. The song peaked at No. 77 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Reps for Ye have not publicly commented on the lawsuit, which was first reported by TMZ.