Donald Glover is being sued for copyright infringement by a Florida rapper, TMZ reports and Pitchfork can confirm via court documents. The rapper, Kidd Wes, claims that the Childish Gambino song “This Is America” infringes on the copyright of his 2016 song “Made in America.” Kidd Wes, whose real name is Emelike Wesley Nwosuocha, filed his lawsuit today (May 6) in a New York federal court.
The list of defendants in Kidd Wes’ lawsuit is extensive. In addition to Donald Glover, the defendants are: “This Is America” co-writer Young Thug, “This Is America” producer Lüdwig Goransson, Kobalt Music, RCA Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Young Stoner Life Publishing LLC, 300 Entertainment, Atlantic Records, Warner Music Group, Roc Nation, Universal Music Publishing Group, and Warner Chappell Music.
Kidd Wes first uploaded “Made in America” to SoundCloud on September 11, 2016. A document filed with the lawsuit shows that Wes was granted a copyright for his album Eleven: The Junior Senior Year on May 24, 2017. “Made in America” is the closing song on Eleven, which got released later in 2017.
In the lawsuit, Kidd Wes and his lawyers argue that “the substantial similarities between both songs include, but are not limited to, nearly-identical unique rhythmic, lyrical, and thematic compositional and performance content contained in the chorus—or ‘hook’—sections that are the centerpieces of both songs.”
When reached by Pitchfork, Kidd Wes’ attorneys Imran H. Ansari and La’Shawn N. Thomas reaffirmed: “The similarities between the two pieces of music are beyond coincidental, and amounts to infringement, as alleged in the complaint filed by our client, Emelike Nwosuocha, professionally known as Kidd Wes. Mr. Nwosuocha is confident in his claims, and simply seeks the credit and compensation he deserves for the unauthorized use of his music.”
Kidd Wes and his attorneys are seeking damages from profit in at least 43 categories, including: record sales, ringtones, ringback tones, endorsements, increased goodwill, any and all music publisher, record master, and record incomes, and increased value in negotiating 360 deals with record companies.
Back in 2018, New York rapper Jase Harley claimed that Donald Glover “stole” the music for “This Is America” from his March 2016 song “American Pharaoh.” Fam Rothstein, a close associate and collaborator of Glover, denied claims of plagiarism and also tweeted (then deleted) that “Made in America” was “3 yrs old,” suggesting the track was started in 2015.