'It’s Hard': Kanye West Claims People 'Take Advantage' of Him During 'Donda' Copyright Trial

Rapper Kanye West testified on Wednesday, May 6, in a music copyright trial tied to early versions of his songs Hurricane and Moon from the 2021 album Donda.

The trial comes after four musicians, Khalil Abdul Rahman, Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff and Josh Mease, said they were not properly paid for a sample allegedly used without permission.

They are now seeking around $564,046 in damages through their company, Artist Revenue Advocates⁠ (ARA).

However, during his testimony, West denied wrongdoing and said he followed the proper process to clear samples for the album.

He also described himself as “very generous” when it comes to giving credit to collaborators.

Even though West has been accused of infringement tied to his 2021 album, the Grammy winner denied allegations because he said that his musical inspiration sometimes comes from him "just singing in the shower."

According to Rolling Stone, he claimed to constantly revise his songs, creating many different versions until he is fully satisfied.

“It’s hard, but it’s therapeutic, because I want to deliver the best product to the audience and to my fans,” West testified.

Further, according to Billboard, the rapper asserted that he and his team “went through the normal process” to clear the “MSD PT2” sample used in his song Hurricane.

He then claimed to have fairly compensated the four musicians.

“I pride myself on giving people what they deserve. I feel like a lot of people try to take advantage of me,” West said, adding, “As I sit in this courtroom today, I just think people are trying to make more than they otherwise would because it’s me.”

Meanwhile, Seeff testified on Tuesday, May 5, claiming he received only “some small payments” tied to the song.

Meanwhile, this isn't the first infringement trial that West is facing. In the past, he has been sued multiple times over allegations that he sampled copyrighted music without permission.

Federal court records show that West has been sued over 14 times for unlicensed sampling.

In 2008, West was sued by the daughter of jazz musician Joe Farrell over the former's 2005 song Gone from his second studio album Late Registration.

The lawsuit accused the rapper of sampling material from Farrell’s 1974 song Upon This Rock. Both parties eventually settled the matter.

Further, the rapper faced lawsuits in three consecutive years (2011 to 2013) for using copyrighted songs of late legends without permission.

In 2016, Gabor Presser, a former member of a Hungarian rock band, accused West of sampling a 1969 song Gyongyhaju Lany in his 2013 track New Slaves.

The lawsuit once again ended up with the two parties reaching a confidential settlement in March 2017.

The year 2019 turned out to be a rough year for West, as he faced three lawsuits. The streak of bad luck repeated in 2022, when he faced four lawsuits.

West faced two infringement lawsuits in 2024 and two others in 2025.

In 2026, the rapper was accused by R&B artist Swsh for failing to get a license to sample the song Break the Fall on his Vultures 2 track 530.