Kane Dane
A Brooklyn based rock band called Yeasayer has filed a lawsuit against the Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar. The lawsuit claims that their hit song “Pray for Me,” which was used in the Black Panther soundtrack, was copied from Yeasayar 2007 song called “Sunrise.”
In the lawsuit, Yeasayer stated that “Pray for Me” includes an uncredited sample of “Sunrise” that’s described as ‘a unique choral performance… composed of male voices singing in their highest records, with animated, pulsing vibrato, and formed via distinctive audio post-processing.’ The band claims that the Weeknd, Lamar and the rest of the artistic team behind “Pray for Me” took this part of “Sunrise,” shaped it and made it a “material and important part” of “Pray for Me.”
Yeasayer Lawsuit Song Producers Doc McKinney And Frank Dukes As Defendants
Along with the Weeknd and Lamar, Yeasayer’s lawsuit names “Pray for Me” producers Frank Dukes and Doc McKinney as defendants. In the lawsuit, Yeasayer claimed that the “Pray for Me” creative team created an unofficial derivative work from “Sunrise” by ‘keeping the equal number of voices in the same configuration, improving the material, and temporarily decreasing the copied part while usually preserving the original’s pulsing vibrato.’ It says that this snippet does at least eight times in “Pray for Me,” and the lawsuit explains the alleged sample as ‘the primary purpose of two full verses, which includes the final verse.’
Yeasayer Are Asking Amount In Damages And Profits From Pray For Me
The lawsuit also alleges that despite the changing, the snippet is still recognizable as coming from “Sunrise,” and that the creative team behind “Pray for Me” changed the part they copied from ‘Sunrise’ with the intention to conceal the infringement. Yeasayer are asking an undisclosed amount in damages and profits from “Pray for Me,” as well as an order to stop sales and licensing of the song.
