Update On 'The Life Of Pablo' & Tidal Lawsuit
Attorneys for West and Tidal's parent company Aspiro are having none of the 'TLOP' lawsuit as they claim that a class action lawsuit should not be allowed. The latest court brief refers to Rhett-Baker as "a Kanye West super-fan who closely followed Mr. West's social media feeds and routinely listened to podcasts regarding Mr. West," and claims that other media outlets separate from West's Twitter stated the album would only be exclusive to the service for one week.
Back in June, we reported that Kanye West and TIDAL were going to face a lawsuit after he claimed that you could only get his album 'The Life of Pablo' on Tidal, but made it available on other streaming services 6 days later. Although the lawsuit was filed in 2016, the judge gave the go-ahead to the lawsuit in June.
Now, one of the biggest questions is asking whether the lawsuit should receive a class certification. This means that a group of people would be suing Ye instead of just one, eventuating in a higher punishment. According to The Hollywood Reporter, these questions needed to be answered before that class certification was given:
Was the at-issue Tweet false at the time it was made? Did the post-release changes West made to The Life of Pablo render the widely released album different, such that the album’s eventual release rendered West’s statements immaterial? What was Mr. West’s intent when he told the world that The Life of Pablo would only ever be available on Tidal? Was it reasonable to rely on that representation? Can Aspiro be held liable for West’s statements?
U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Woods replied on Kanye's side.
Mr. West’s argument is tenuous, and certainly does not pass muster in the context of a motion to dismiss, when the Court is required to draw all inferences in favor of the non-moving party," wrote the judge. "After all, Mr. West tweeted that 'My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale' (emphasis added). He did not commit that a particular version, or mix, or master of his album would not be on Apple—his commitment was that the 'album,' 'it,' would not be. And the album was made available on Apple Music shortly after the Tweet. Regardless of whether or not Mr. West’s argument will persuade a jury at a later stage in the case, the Court has little difficulty concluding that the complaint plausibly pleads that Mr. West’s statement that his album would never never never be available on Apple Music or for sale was false.
Stay tuned for the latest news as it drops.