Ye is back in the middle of a legal storm, this time tied to his 2022 project Donda 2. According to Billboard, a federal copyright infringement lawsuit has been filed over his use of a sample on the track “LORD LIFT ME UP,” featuring Vory.
The complaint, filed September 4 by The GRC Trust on behalf of Ginn Music Group, claims Ye used soul singer Sam Dees’ 1975 record “Just Out Of My Reach” without permission. The publisher, based in Atlanta, oversees Dees’ catalog and alleges the opening of the original song was looped throughout Ye’s two minute and ten second track.
Named in the lawsuit are Ye, Vory (whose full name is Tavoris Javon Hollins), and Yeezy LLC, with the filing also extending to Kano Computing and founder Alex Klein. Kano developed the Stem Player, the exclusive platform used to distribute Donda 2. The suit states, “At no point did defendants obtain authorization from GRC to use the composition in connection with the infringing work. Defendants continue to exploit and receive profits from the infringing work, thereby violating GRC’s rights in this composition.”
The GRC Trust is pushing for a court order and financial compensation, demanding “all profits of defendants… plus all losses of GRC, plus any other monetary advantage gained by the defendants through their infringement.” The situation highlights how closely sampling is being monitored, especially when tied to independent platforms and unconventional distribution strategies.
This legal dispute comes as anticipation builds for Ye’s upcoming documentary In Whose Name?. The film, which has been in development for over a year, is scheduled to arrive in select theaters and covers defining moments of Ye’s journey between 2018 and 2024, including his divorce from Kim Kardashian and his widely criticized remarks on antisemitism. The project promises a raw look into the balance between his personal struggles and his creative ambitions.