Kanye West Accused of Using Illegal Sample for 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'

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Kanye West is embroiled in a copyright lawsuit against a record label called TufAmerica. The New York label sues the one-half of Watch the Throne duo, claiming that the G.O.O.D Music boss is using a song sample in his 2010 album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" without permission.

TufAmerica alleges that two tracks of the album are using a sample of "Hook and Sling, Part 1", a 1969 funk song by New Orleans singer/pianist Eddie Bo. The label insists that it has obtained the rights to the single more than 15 years ago, and is surprised when finding out that the sample appears in Kanye's songs, "Who Will Survive in America?" and "Lost in the World".

The record company files its lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan. In its complaint, the label states that Yeezy's label Roc-A-Fella and its parent Universal Music Group have paid a license fee of $62,500, but they "failed and refused to enter into written license agreements that accounted for their multiple other uses of ['Hook and Sling']."

TufAmerica also mentions that the said sample appears in a music video for "Lost in the World" as well as a short film based on Kanye's song "Runaway". Represented by New York lawyer Kelly Talcott, the label is now demanding punitive damages for copyright infringement.

This is not the first time TufAmerica draws attention for suing a musician over copyright issue. Back in May, it filed a lawsuit against Beastie Boys a day before one member of the trio, Adam Yauch, died of cancer. The label accused the trio of ripping samples from Trouble Funk's songs for their 1980s albums "Licensed to Ill" and "Paul's Boutique".