Kanye West Hit with Copyright Lawsuit by German Singer Whose 'Values Are Contrary' to Those of the Rapper

• German singer Alice Merton filed a lawsuit against Kanye West for allegedly using her song "Blindside" in an unreleased Vultures track without authorization
• After Merton denied his request for the sample, which he had already debuted, fans threatened Merton
• The lawsuit comes after a series of online rants and antisemitic remarks by the rapper

Kanye West has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit by a German artist who refused to be associated with the rapper.

On Tuesday, March 25, German singer Alice Merton — as well as two German corporations — filed a lawsuit against the Graduation rapper for "unauthorized commercial exploitation of the musical composition 'Blindside.'"

Per the filing, which was obtained by PEOPLE, Merton, MERTON & GRAUWINKEL GMBH and PAPER PLANE PUBLISHING GMBH, own the rights to the song and claim that West, 47, "willfully engaged in the infringement of copyright with the composition of 'Gun to the Head' which contains an unauthorized sample" of the song.

"Plaintiffs were damaged by that infringement based on their ownership of the composition, including 50% of the publishers' share and the writers' share of those rights," the filing continued.

The plaintiffs are seeking "injunctive relief and damages" for the alleged copyright infringement and unfair competition."

Merton released "Blindside" in 2022. In December 2023, at West's Vultures event in Miami, he debuted his collaboration with Kid Cudi and Ty Dolla $ign titled "Gun to My Head" and "the public became aware that it contained an unauthorized sample" of "Blindside," per the filing.

Then, on Feb. 15, West allegedly requested approval from BMG for the song to be incorporated as a sample to "Gun to My Head." After the request was sent to Merton and the corporations, the request was denied in March and no reason was given. When asked for a reason for the rejection, the plaintiffs responded that "the artist's values are contrary to our values."

"Alice Merton was unwilling to compromise her personal beliefs and wanted not to be associated with [West] in any manner." the filing states. "Of significant concern to plaintiff Merton, were defendant [West's] antisemitic, racist remarks which were made publicly and continue to be made publicly."

Adding, "Merton is a German resident who has close ties to the Holocaust through Jewish family members who survived horrors and as such feels closely connected to it."

Then, when the album was released in August 2024 and the song was left out, fans were "relentless" and made "threats to Merton should she not clear the sample," per the filing. Following the alleged threats, Merton feared "returning to America for further tour dates."

A formal letter demanding "cease, desist and refrain from any further violation" was sent to West in August 2024 by BMG and, per the filing, he did not respond.

"In addition to the negative association with [West] that plaintiffs were trying to avoid, plaintiff Merton began receiving death threats and abuse from defendants' fan base online because she would not clear the sample. Defendant did nothing to stop the abuse, allowing his fans to intimidate and harass plaintiff Merton and failing to acknowledge that plaintiffs had rejected defendant's request to use plaintiff's song," the filing states.

In addition to relief and damages, the plaintiffs are seeking a trial by jury "on all issues so triable."

The lawsuit comes after a series of anti-semitic rants on social media. In February, the "Stronger" rapper was dropped by his talent agency because of his "harmful and hateful remarks."

On Feb. 6, West went on a rant on X, calling antisemitism "just some bulls--- Jewish people made up" and said that he was "never apologizing for my Jewish comments."

Then, on Feb. 11, his Yeezy website was shut down after he sold a swastika T-shirt online for violating Shopify's terms. That same day, a former Yeezy employee filed a complaint that the rapper compared himself to Hitler and threatened her because she was Jewish. She also claims West fired her after she reported his alleged conduct to her supervisor.

His previous antisemitic remarks lost him brand deals with Adidas, Balenciaga and Gap.