Kanye West sued by German singer

Kanye West is being sued over copyright infringement.

A German singer Alice Merton, along with two German corporations, filed a lawsuit against the rapper on Tuesday, alleging "unauthorised commercial exploitation of the musical composition Blindside"—which she released in 2022.

Merton, MERTON & GRAUWINKEL GMBH and PAPER PLANE PUBLISHING GMBH, who own the rights to the song, have claimed that West "willfully engaged in the infringement of copyright with the composition of Gun to the Head, which contains an unauthorised sample" of the song.

The lawsuit comes as West debuted his collaboration with Kid Cudi and Ty Dolla $ign titled Gun to My Head at his Vultures event in Miami in December 2023.

The German musician has pointed that "the public became aware that it contained an unauthorised sample" of Blindside, People Magazine reported.

"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 also detailed the events that unfolded after she refused to be associated with the rapper without giving a reason. She was then asked for a reason, to which the plaintiffs responded that "the artist's values are contrary to our values."

She recalled how when the song was left out in West's album release in August 2024, angry fans made "threats to Merton should she not clear the sample."

"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," the filing stated.

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 stated.

The Stronger rapper has been attracting criticism over a series of anti-semitic rants he has been making on social media.

The rapper was dropped by his talent agency as well as clients like Adidas, Balenciaga, and Gap as a result.