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Case file s1738 · Music and sport · 2012
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2012
Donna Summer: Donna Summer in 1982
Donna Summer. Harry Langdon.. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
17 May 2012
Place
Naples, Florida · United States
Field
disco ("I Feel Love", "Hot Stuff")
Legal tradition
US federal copyright law · Common law
Historical event
Disco; the 2024 "Vultures 1" album
Religion
Donna Summer: Protestant and Anglican (recorded as 20th-century Methodists, 21st-century Methodists, African-American Methodists on Wikipedia)
Music and sportNowNorth AmericaUnited States

Donna Summer's estate refused Kanye West permission to use "I Feel Love," sued when he used it anyway, and made him agree never to distribute the song

Donna Summer died of cancer in 2012 at 63†. Her husband, Bruce Sudano, became executor and controls her catalog. Before the album came out, Kanye West asked to use "I Feel Love," the 1977 track Summer recorded with Giorgio Moroder. The estate said no. Its complaint says West was "explicitly denied" because the estate "wanted no association with West's controversial history." In February 2024 West and Ty Dolla $ign released "Vultures 1" with "Good (Don't Die)," which interpolated the song, and performed it live. The estate, with Sudano as lead plaintiff, sued both men in federal court for copyright infringement. The track was pulled from Apple Music and Spotify. An estate lawyer told the court a "global settlement" was reached on 3 May 2024. A filing on 20 June 2024 called it "a full and final settlement of all of the claims." Each side paid its own legal costs. Estate counsel Larry Stein said the deal gave West no permission to use Summer's material in the future and that the defendants agreed not to distribute or use the song. Stein would not say whether West paid for past use. In 2026 "Good (Don't Die)" is not on streaming services†.

What the law took from it

An estate that owns the copyright can refuse an artist it does not want her name tied to, and enforce that in court.

Sources
  1. thegrio.comPress
  2. qc.rollingstone.comPress
  3. complex.comPress
  4. music.mxdwn.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Donna Summer's estate refused Kanye West permission to use "I Feel Love," sued when he used it anyway, and made him agree never to distribute the song,” story s1738, https://www.celebrity.estate/donna-summer-2012, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportNowNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States