A U.S. federal court has ordered rapper and producer Kanye West to pay more than $52,000 in legal fees in connection with an ongoing copyright lawsuit over his 2021 album ‘Donda’.
The case, filed in 2023 by Artist Revenue Advocates, LLC in Los Angeles, accuses West and his team of using another artist’s compositions without authorization. Court filings allege that two tracks on Donda incorporated material from an existing song without proper approval, despite West giving the claimants credit as composers and producers.
The plaintiffs argue that West’s use of the music generated at least $15 million in revenue, while bypassing the necessary permissions.
This week, a federal judge ordered West and his company to pay $52,015 in legal costs tied to the dispute. The fee order does not resolve the larger case, which is still before the court and could establish whether West is liable for copyright infringement on the contested tracks.
