A federal copyright trial began Monday in Los Angeles concerning rapper Ye’s alleged unauthorized use of an instrumental track during a 2021 listening party at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The case involves a one-minute recording created in 2018 by four musicians and producers in a downtown Los Angeles studio.
The dispute centers on Ye’s use of the track, known as MSD PT2, which he sang over while performing “80 degrees,” an early version of what would become the Grammy-winning single “Hurricane.” The performance took place at a sold-out event that was live-streamed by Apple to audiences worldwide.
Artist Revenue Advocates, a limited liability company that acquired the rights to the track from the original creators, filed the lawsuit in 2024. The company’s attorney, Irene Lee, told the jury that while Ye acknowledged using the track, he never provided compensation to the artists. According to Lee, attempts to reach an agreement were unsuccessful, with the defendants refusing payment and avoiding communication with the creators for years.
The track was originally produced by Khalil Abdul-Rahman, known professionally as DJ Khalil, along with three other musicians including bass player Dan Seeff, who has collaborated with DJ Khalil since 2005. The musicians transferred their rights in the recording to Artist Revenue Advocates, which subsequently brought legal action.
U.S. District Judge Michelle Williams Court issued a significant ruling in February that narrowed the scope of the case. The judge determined on summary judgment that Artist Revenue Advocates could not pursue copyright infringement claims for the composition itself because the transfer of those rights from the musicians to the company was not properly documented in writing. This leaves only the claim based on the sound recording copyright, which was properly transferred by DJ Khalil.
As a result of this ruling, the plaintiff cannot seek damages for any alleged use of the track on Ye’s 2021 album “Donda” or claim infringement based on musical similarity. Since the actual sound recording was not used in the album versions of the songs, the case now focuses solely on its use during the Atlanta listening party.
Artist Revenue Advocates is seeking damages of at least $564,000, calculated from various revenue streams including ticket sales, merchandise sales, Apple’s payment for live streaming rights, and apparel sales from Ye’s collaboration with GAP that was promoted during the event.
Eduardo Martorell, representing Ye and his corporate entities, presented a different perspective to the jury. He argued that the musicians had provided implicit permission for Ye to use their track as he was “test driving” it for potential inclusion in his songs. Martorell explained that DJ Khalil had shared the track along with others in 2018 through a producer to gauge interest from major recording artists, which he described as standard practice in the music industry.
The defense maintains that by distributing their music in this manner, the musicians created an expectation that artists like Ye could experiment with the tracks before commercial release, with compensation following once the music was officially released. Martorell noted that the musicians received credit as co-writers and DJ Khalil as co-producer on the final version, and they were paid royalties until the litigation began.
Martorell also raised questions about Artist Revenue Advocates’ formation, stating the company was created in 2024 specifically to pursue this copyright case and had paid the four musicians $1 million for their copyright interests in the track.
Dan Seeff testified as the first witness Monday afternoon, describing the collaborative process with DJ Khalil that often involved hours-long jam sessions. He recalled feeling excited when a demo version of Ye’s song using their track leaked on Instagram in 2018, believing it was released to generate interest for an eventual album. However, the expected album never materialized at that time, and the track did not resurface publicly until the 2021 listening party.
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