The usage of uncleared samples and beats has led to separate lawsuits against Kanye West and Snoop Dogg. The owners of the sampled track explicitly denied West permission to use their sample on two tracks on his 2021 album ‘Donda,’ but West is still accused of doing so. Two tracks from Snoop’s 2022 album “BODR” incorporate unapproved studio beats, which has led to a lawsuit against the rapper.

‘Donda’s’ Hurricane and ‘Moon’ feature samples from a song named ‘MSD PT2,’ but West’s crew allegedly tried to get permission to use that sample, but were denied. Artist Revenue Advocates, the owners of the earlier song, claim that West “decided to steal it” after he was unable to secure a license.

In its legal filing, ARA states, “This lawsuit is about more than defendants’ failure to pay a fee.”. This concerns the autonomy of creative people, including composers, performers, and songwriters, in deciding the dissemination and use of their works. Owners of intellectual property have the right to control the use of their creations and should have the means to stop willful thieves.

‘Hurricane’ features 24 co-writers, including four of ‘MSD PT2’ creators—Josh Mease, Dan Seeff, Sam Barsh, and Khalil Abdul-Rahman—though ‘Moon’ only features Abdul-Rahman’s name. It is unclear whether the other three creators of ‘MSD PT2’ have been allotted anything, but Abdul-Rahman appears to have a small share of the ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Moon’ copyrights according to the database of the US collecting society, the MLC.

The musicians behind “MSD PT2” are being named in the lawsuit as having shown “blatant brazenness” by refusing to give West permission to use their song. Their explicit permission was still necessary before using the sample, regardless of whether they are credited or have a share in the copyrights for “Hurricane” and “Moon.”

On top of that, it appears that the producers of “MSD PT2” have not profited from any of West’s songs. Following nearly three years of “unsuccessfully attempting to collect their share of the proceeds from these songs,” the artists reportedly sought assistance from ARA.

A musician named Trevor Lawrence Jr. has filed a lawsuit against Snoop. Claiming to have given Snoop two backing tracks “on spec” for studio experiments, he claims he did so. On the other hand, he claims he made it plain that licencing would be required for any finished tracks that utilized those beats. “Pop Pop” and “Get This Dick” were the two tracks on “BODR” that featured Lawrence’s work.

It was two years after he gave Snoop his beats in 2020 that he found out they would be used on ‘BODR,’ he says. In addition to a half stake in the publishing rights, he demanded $10,000. Despite assurances from Snoop’s rep that the conditions were satisfactory, no formal licensing agreement was ever finalized. Defendants have so far “refused to properly license the Lawrence tracks or compensate Lawrence for their use,” the lawsuit states.

The two songs were also a component of Snoop’s NFT campaign, which produced “tens of millions of dollars,” according to the lawsuit. “Laurence never contemplated or authorized any such exploitation of his work, and defendants never communicated to him any intention to exploit the Lawrence tracks in connection with a bundled offering” like the NFT sale, it says.