Kanye West & EMI Back in Court After Failing to Finalise Settlement

Billboard is reporting that the legal dispute between Kanye West and EMI has worsened and it is because the parties failed to finalise the terms of a settlement agreement.

The music publisher reportedly has asked a federal judge in New York to re-open a case.

About the case, Billboard said:

West began the year by seeking his contractual freedom by turning to California’s statute limiting personal services contracts to no more than seven years. The hip-hop star alleges that when his 2003 deal is combined with extensions, that adds up to a lack of freedom and is void under a law that was once famously used by Olivia de Havilland to escape a deal with Warner Bros. and has since been exploited by other musicians to renegotiate their own contracts.

The lawsuit from West raised eyebrows, particularly a provision of his contract that forbid retirement.

In response, EMI filed its own lawsuit against West in New York with the claim that the musician had made a “flagrant attempt to forum shop his way around” a provision of the contract that provided New York with exclusive jurisdiction.

Then, in September, both sides appeared to avoid what would have been a battle over whether parties could contract around California’s attempt to curtail contractual servitude. The judge was informed of a settlement, and the respective cases appeared to close.