Kanye West’s attorneys argue trade secret appropriation after his unreleased recordings were posted online

Olivia Floyd, the Journal’s former Digital Editor, will be exploring a recent lawsuit filed by Ye (formerly known as Kanye West).

Ye recently filed suit against unnamed individuals who attended his listening party and then posted his recordings on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). In the complaint, Ye’s attorneys made several legal arguments, including breach of contract (Ye claimed the individuals’ conduct violated the terms of a confidentiality agreement they had signed prior to attending the event) and copyright infringement. However, Ye also claimed that the unauthorized online distribution of the recordings amounted to a trade secret violation because of the recordings’ “economic value, secrecy, and the efforts taken to safeguard [the recordings].”

This is an interesting approach to an issue usually remedied with a copyright infringement suit. However, given that trade secret law can protect any information that is kept confidential and has value which would be diminished if it were not kept confidential, Ye might succeed with his trade secret claim.

That being said, since the attendees allegedly signed a confidentiality agreement, breach of contract will probably prove to be a stronger argument; not to mention copyright infringement, the cause of action designed to remedy these exact injuries.