Kanye West reaches agreement with Donna Summer Estate in copyright lawsuit

Kanye West has settled the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Donna Summer’s estate earlier this year against him and Ty Dolla $ign for “unauthorized” use of the disco icon’s song “I Feel Love” on their Vulture 1 Project, confirms PEOPLE.

According to court documents filed Thursday, June 20, and obtained by PEOPLE, attorneys for both parties say they have entered into “a settlement agreement that represents a complete and final resolution of all claims in the lawsuit” and that each side will pay its own attorney fees from the litigation.

PEOPLE has reached out to representatives for both the Summer estate and West for comment.

After the settlement was filed, Larry Stein, lead attorney for Summer’s estate, said Billboard that the final agreement does not include permission for 47-year-old West (now known by the stage name Ye) to use the late singer’s material in the future.

“We didn’t license the song,” Stein said. “As part of the settlement, they agreed not to distribute the song or use it in any other way. So we got what we wanted.”

The lawyer reportedly declined to comment on the other terms of the settlement, including whether West paid a fee for the copyright infringement that had already occurred.

In court documents obtained by PEOPLE in February, the estate of Donna Summer West and Ty Dolla accused $ign, 42, of “blatant theft” for including an interpolation of Summer’s “I Feel Love” on her Vulture 1 Song “Good (Don’t Die)” “without permission”.

The lawsuit, which names the Queen of Disco’s husband, Bruce Sudano, as lead plaintiff, alleges that the musicians “arrogantly and unilaterally decided to simply steal the 1977 song” after asking the singer’s estate for permission to use parts of it. According to the lawsuit, the duo was “specifically denied” permission because Summers’ estate “did not want any association with West’s controversial past.”

“Despite this denial, defendants shamelessly used instantly recognizable portions of Summer’s hit ‘I FEEL LOVE’ on their recently released collaborative album ‘Vultures 1’ and in recorded live concerts,” the lawsuit states.

Before the release of Vulture IThe documents state that a company known as “Alien Music” requested the use of excerpts from “I Feel Love” on West’s behalf in late January. According to the court filing, Alien Music asked for “an expedited review” because the project was scheduled to be released on February 9. This seems to indicate that the rappers “had already completed their song and prepared it for release without seeking permission or even informing Summer Estate of the use.”

The lawsuit states that Summers’ estate was “shocked” to learn that West and Ty Dolla $ign Vulture 1 with the inclusion of the interpolation “I Feel Love”, although the two were “expressly denied permission” to use the song “more than once”.

“In the face of these repeated denials, West and the co-defendants attempted to circumvent this obstacle by instead making an unauthorized interpolation,” the lawsuit said. In addition, the musical collaborators used the “iconic melody” of Summer’s hit as the hook for “Good (Don’t Die)” and “re-recorded important parts of the song almost verbatim,” also allegedly “without permission.”

According to the documents, the “infringing recording” was later removed by major streaming platforms and other distributors.

Shortly thereafter Vulture 1 dropped after numerous delays, Sudano posted on X (formerly Twitter) about the appearance of his late wife’s song “I Feel Love” on the project, writing: “@kanyewest asked for permission to use Donna Summer’s song “I Feel Love” and was denied…he changed the lyrics, had someone else re-sing it, or used AI, but it’s “I Feel Love”…copyright infringement!!!”

Summer died of lung cancer in 2012 at the age of 63.

West has faced further legal troubles since the release of his collaborative project with Ty Dolla $ign, as his former personal assistant sued him for sexual harassment and wrongful termination in late May. A rep for the rapper said in a statement to PEOPLE that he threatened to file his own lawsuit against his former employee’s “baseless allegations,” but court records do not indicate that he has yet filed the suit.