Veteran entertainer Ronald Oslin Bobb-Semple previously launched legal action against Kanye and his collaborators, Kid Cudi and Ty Dolla $ign, over their track 'Freeee (Ghost Town Pt. 2)'.
- June 5, 2019
AceShowbiz - Kanye West is fighting to have a copyright infringement lawsuit regarding a "Kids See Ghosts" song dismissed.
Veteran entertainer Ronald Oslin Bobb-Semple launched legal action against Kanye and his collaborators, Kid Cudi and Ty Dolla $ign, in March, claiming their track "Freeee (Ghost Town Pt. 2)" featured the illegal use of his vocals from 2002's "The Spirit of Marcus Garvey".
He sued for unspecified damages and requested an injunction to prevent the trio from continuing to profit from his work.
However, Kanye, who co-produced the track with his "Kids See Ghosts" bandmate Cudi, has now responded to the lawsuit, admitting he didn't reach out to Bobb-Semple to seek permission, because he didn't think it was necessary.
In court papers obtained by The Blast, the rapper argues the sample of the spoken word recording falls under the fair use act, which, under U.S. law, allows the limited use of copyrighted material without authorisation from the copyright holder.
As such, Kanye insists his actions were "innocent" and he wants the judge overseeing the case to shut down the claim.
"Freeee (Ghost Town Pt. 2)" featured on "Kids See Ghosts"' eponymous debut album, which was released last summer (18).
