lawsuits

The Weeknd Sued Over Sample Used in ‘The Hills,’ Has Officially Reached Peak Stardom

2015 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show - Runway
“I can’t feel my face when I’m sued.” Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

You’re not a music superstar until you’ve been taken to court over one of your hits. Congrats, the Weeknd: Your moment has arrived. On Wednesday, Cutting Edge Music sued the Grammy nominee for copyright infringement in his No. 1 song “The Hills,” alleging it uses an unauthorized sample from Tom Raybould’s score for the 2013 sci-film The Machine. And it appears the music publishing company may have a case: The lawsuit claims that the song’s co-producer Mano (whom you may remember as the DJ Kanye once fired) direct-messaged Raybould on Twitter back in March, telling him, “I sampled your music might make it 2 the weeknd next album. Huge fan of what u did 4 the machine movie!’” But he apparently never took any formal steps to compensate Raybould for the sample, and now Cutting Edge Music is asking for both damages and an injunction on sales of the song. The company says “The Hills” borrows a bass line from Raybould’s song “Revolution,” which you can hear below and compare for yourself.

The Weeknd Sued Over ‘The Hills’ Sample