{"id":804548,"date":"2020-02-24T16:13:01","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T23:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=957606"},"modified":"2020-02-24T16:13:01","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T23:13:01","slug":"yeasayer-sue-the-weeknd-kendrick-lamar-over-black-panther-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/yeasayer-sue-the-weeknd-kendrick-lamar-over-black-panther-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Yeasayer Sue the Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar Over \u2018Black Panther\u2019 Song"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The now-defunct Brooklyn band Yeasayer<\/a> has filed a lawsuit<\/a> against the Weeknd<\/a>, Kendrick Lamar<\/a> and others claiming their 2018 Black Panther <\/i>soundtrack <\/i>collaboration \u201cPray for Me\u201d infringes on the band\u2019s 2007 track, \u201cSunrise,\u201d Pitchfork<\/a><\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

In the suit, Yeasayer \u2014 which broke up<\/a> last December \u2014 said that \u201cPray for Me\u201d contains an uncredited sample of \u201cSunrise\u201d that\u2019s described as \u201ca distinctive choral performance\u2026 comprised of male voices singing in their highest registers, with animated, pulsing vibrato, and developed via distinctive audio post-processing.\u201d The band alleges that the Weeknd, Lamar and the rest of the creative team behind \u201cPray for Me\u201d took this snippet of \u201cSunrise,\u201d manipulated it and made it a \u201cmaterial and substantial portion\u201d of \u201cPray for Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with Lamar and the Weekend, Yeasayer\u2019s suit names \u201cPray for Me\u201d producers Doc McKinney and Frank Dukes as defendants. In the suit, Yeasayer alleged that the \u201cPray for Me\u201d creative team \u201ccreated an unauthorized derivative work\u201d from \u201cSunrise\u201d by \u201ckeeping the same number of voices in the same configuration, brightening the material, and temporarily condensing the copied portion while generally retaining the original\u2019s pulsing vibrato.\u201d It states that this snippet appears at least eight times in \u201cPray for Me,\u201d and the suit describes the alleged sample as \u201cthe primary feature of two complete verses, including the final verse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suit also claims that \u201cdespite the processing,\u201d the snippet is still \u201crecognizable\u201d as coming from \u201cSunrise,\u201d and that the creative team behind \u201cPray for Me\u201d \u201cmodified the portion they copied from \u2018Sunrise\u2019 with the intent to conceal the infringement.\u201d Yeasayer are seeking undisclosed amount in damages and profits from \u201cPay for Me,\u201d as well as an injunction to stop sales and licensing of the song. Representatives for the Weeknd, Yeasayer and Lamar did not immediately return requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar \u2014 \u201cPray for Me\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n