It’s been a while since we last had a Kanye story —
Hip-hop mogul Kanye West has been dealt a major legal setback after a federal court in Los Angeles ordered him and his business entities to pay more than $52,000 in attorney’s fees. The penalty comes after what the judge described as deliberate obstruction during the discovery phase of a copyright infringement case targeting tracks from his 2021 album Donda.
The ruling is being hailed as an early victory for the plaintiffs, Artist Revenue Advocates LLC, who allege Kanye West unlawfully used copyrighted material in the songs “Moon” and “Hurricane.”
The copyright lawsuit, filed in 2023, accuses Kanye West of incorporating protected works by DJ Khalil and several other musicians without proper authorization. Donda, which has generated over $15 million in revenue, remains one of West’s most commercially successful projects in recent years—raising the stakes in the litigation.
Court records reveal Kanye West’s legal team refused to comply with all 65 discovery requests, effectively stonewalling the plaintiffs. The judge ultimately sided with the plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery, finding that the obstruction necessitated costly legal efforts.
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