The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Dallas on behalf of 57-year-old David Paul Moten, names Universal Music Group, Def Jam Recordings, G.O.O.D. Music, and the rapper, who is now legally named Ye, as defendants.
The defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Defendants willfully and without the permission or consent of Plaintiff extensively sampled portions of the Sermon,” Moten wrote. “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.”
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Ye used an unlicensed sample from one of Moten’s sermons in the song “Come to Life,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that roughly a minute and 10 seconds of the five-minute song contains a sample of the sermon, running on a loop in the background of the chorus and pre-chorus.
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The sampled portions include the opening of the song, in which a man can be heard exclaiming, “My soul cries out, ‘Hallelujah,’ and I thank God for saving me. I, I thank God,” as well as an interlude after Ye’s first verse during which a person can be heard saying “Hallelujah” several times, the lawsuit says.
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Moten leads The Joy of the Lord Worship Center in Victoria. Brandon Smith, Moten’s attorney, has yet to respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit also notes Ye and the record labels have a history of “willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission” but does not elaborate on the claim.
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While a tiny snippet of language that’s commonly used in sermons might seem to be fair game, federal courts have long held that even the smallest samples of sound recordings must be licensed. In a seminal 2005 ruling, a federal appeals court put it bluntly: “Get a license, or do not sample.”
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In other Yeezus news, the artist recently backed out of Coachella this year.
The rapper dropped out of his headliner spot at the California festival, leaving organizers with a set to fill.
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West was scheduled to play the closing night of each of the festival’s weekends, which take place April 15-17 and April 22-24.
Although no reason was immediately given for the cancellation, sources told Variety magazine that the performer had not prepared or rehearsed for the appearance.
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This marks the second time West has dropped out of North America’s largest music festival at the last minute. He was scheduled to headline Coachella in 2020 but canceled mere days before the festival started.
Earlier this year, West threatened to pull out of Coachella if Billie Eilish, whom he was set to headline alongside, didn’t apologize to rapper Travis Scott, reported Teen Vogue. West reportedly thought that Eilish had “dissed” Scott when she briefly stopped an Atlanta concert from helping a fan — weeks after 10 fans were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede at Scott’s Astroworld Festival.
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