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German Singer Sues Kanye West for Copyright Infringement Related to His Antisemitic, Racist Remarks
Kanye West walking on the red carpet during the 67th Grammy Awards held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA on February 2, 2025. Photo: Elyse Jankowski/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
German singer-songwriter Alice Merton filed a lawsuit against Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) in US District Court in California on Tuesday for copyright infringement, claiming that the rapper sampled her song after she denied his request to do so because of his past antisemitic and racist remarks.
Merton — best known for her 2017 hit song “No Roots” — is accusing the “Graduation” rapper of the “unauthorized commercial exploitation” of her song “Blindside,” which she wrote and recorded in 2022. The musician, who lives in the United Kingdom, claimed in her lawsuit that Ye knowingly used an “unauthorized sample” of her song on his track “Gun to My Head,” which also features Ty Dolla $ign and Kid Cudi.
In August 2024, Ye released a digital deluxe edition of his album “Vultures 2” on his website and it featured the original tracklist on “Vultures 2” as well as new songs, including “Gun to My Head.” The song features Merton’s vocals singing the line, “I sat down with a gun to my head,” which is the opening line of “Blindside.” Ye’s song also replays a phrase from “Blindside” throughout majority of the tune, according to Merton’s lawsuit.
Prior to its official release, Ye previewed “Gun to My Head” at a “Vultures” listening party in Florida in December 2023. In her lawsuit, Merton said she was “understandably shocked and humiliated” when she learned that Ye previewed “Gun to My Head,” featuring an unauthorized sample of “Blindside,” at the listening event. There were also false claims circulating online that Merton had collaborated on the track with Ye, according to the lawsuit.
Merton claimed that only two months later, in February 2024, Ye (by way of the clearance company Alien Music Services) reached out to her rights management company BMG, requesting to use a sample of “Blindside.” She rejected his request in March and did not originally give a reason. Merton said that when representatives for BMG asked why she denied the request, she 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 [Ye] in any manner,” the filing stated. It also mentioned that Merton was significantly concerned about Ye’s “antisemitic, racist remarks which were made publicly and continue to be made publicly.”
In February, Ye was dropped by his talent agency 33 & West because of his “harmful and hateful remarks,” which include voicing support for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, Nazis in general, and making numerous antisemitic remarks about Jews. That same month he tried to sell a shirt on his website, Yeezy.com, that features the swastika hate symbol. A former Jewish Yeezy employee recently filed a lawsuit against the rapper for discrimination, claiming that he threatened her because she was Jewish and that he compared himself to Hitler. Ye’s previous antisemitic remarks resulted in him losing brand partnership deals with Adidas and Balenciaga, among others.
“Merton is a German resident who has close ties to the Holocaust through Jewish family members who survived its horrors, and as such feels closely connected to it,” the lawsuit read. It further stated that she is “the direct descendant of Holocaust survivors.”
The German musician claimed that when “Gun to My Head” was not included on the original “Vultures” album, Ye’s fans were “outraged” and “relentless,” and even sent her threats if she would not clear the sample. They “blamed Merton for not authorizing” the sample and “began contacting her directly.” Following the alleged threats, Merton feared returning to America for further tour dates and stopped performing the song at concerts “for fear of confrontation or potential violence against her.”
“In addition to the negative association with Ye that plaintiffs were attempting 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 lawsuit stated.
BMG sent a cease and desist letter to Ye in August 2024, demanding that he refrain from any further copyright violation. He did not respond to the letter, according to Merton’s lawsuit. She is seeking “injunctive relief” and unspecified damages for the alleged “copyright infringement and unfair competition.” She is also calling for a trial by jury “on all issues so triable.”
Ye has been sued at least 14 times for his unauthorized use of samples in his music since 2008, according to Menton’s lawsuit.
Last year, heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne threatened to sue Ye for sampling the Black Sabbath song “Iron Man” after the British musician refused permission because the rapper “is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many.” Also last year, Donna Summer’s estate sued Ye for sampling her 1977 song “I Feel Love” without permission on his song “Good (Don’t Die),” which was included on “Vultures 1.” Summer’s estate said they “wanted no association” with the rapper.
The post German Singer Sues Kanye West for Copyright Infringement Related to His Antisemitic, Racist Remarks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.