section_path: Personal life/Legal issues
section_name: Legal issues
paragraph_text: Legal issues
  
  He has been accused of the extensive use of uncleared samples in his music, leading to numerous lawsuits. In December 2006, Robert "Evel" Knievel sued the rapper for trademark infringement of his name and likeness in West's video for " Touch the Sky ". Knievel took issue with the "vulgar and offensive" and "sexually charged video" in which West takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" that Knievel claimed damaged his reputation. The suit sought monetary damages and an injunction to stop distribution of the video. West's attorneys argued that the music video amounted to satire and therefore was covered under the First Amendment. Days before his death in November 2007, Knievel amicably settled the suit after being paid a visit by West, saying, "I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman."
  
  In 2014, after an altercation with a paparazzo at the Los Angeles Airport, West was sentenced to serve two years' probation for a misdemeanor battery conviction, and was required to attend 24 anger management sessions, perform 250 hours of community service, and pay restitution to the photographer. A separate civil lawsuit brought by the paparazzo was settled in 2015, a week before it was due for trial. According to TMZ, an appeal to have West's conviction expunged from his criminal record was granted by a judge in 2016. On June 29, 2022, a complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in New York claiming copyright infringement due to unauthorized use of a sample on the song "Flowers". The complaint claims that West sampled Marshall Jefferson's 1986 house track " Move Your Body " without gaining permission or providing compensation. In July 2022, West was sued for $416,000 by the fashion rental company the David Casavant Archive. The lawsuit claimed that West had failed to make payments on and return 13 rented pieces.
  
  West was sued for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and breach of contract by a former assistant in 2024. West denied the allegation. That same year, he was sued by a former model for sexual assault and strangulation. In the lawsuit, she claims that during a music video set, West choked and gagged her in the mouth.
  
  He has been accused of the extensive use of uncleared samples in his music, leading to numerous lawsuits. In December 2006, Robert "Evel" Knievel sued the rapper for trademark infringement of his name and likeness in West's video for " Touch the Sky ". Knievel took issue with the "vulgar and offensive" and "sexually charged video" in which West takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" that Knievel claimed damaged his reputation. The suit sought monetary damages and an injunction to stop distribution of the video. West's attorneys argued that the music video amounted to satire and therefore was covered under the First Amendment. Days before his death in November 2007, Knievel amicably settled the suit after being paid a visit by West, saying, "I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman."
  
  In 2014, after an altercation with a paparazzo at the Los Angeles Airport, West was sentenced to serve two years' probation for a misdemeanor battery conviction, and was required to attend 24 anger management sessions, perform 250 hours of community service, and pay restitution to the photographer. A separate civil lawsuit brought by the paparazzo was settled in 2015, a week before it was due for trial. According to TMZ, an appeal to have West's conviction expunged from his criminal record was granted by a judge in 2016. On June 29, 2022, a complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in New York claiming copyright infringement due to unauthorized use of a sample on the song "Flowers". The complaint claims that West sampled Marshall Jefferson's 1986 house track " Move Your Body " without gaining permission or providing compensation. In July 2022, West was sued for $416,000 by the fashion rental company the David Casavant Archive. The lawsuit claimed that West had failed to make payments on and return 13 rented pieces.
  
  West was sued for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and breach of contract by a former assistant in 2024. West denied the allegation. That same year, he was sued by a former model for sexual assault and strangulation. In the lawsuit, she claims that during a music video set, West choked and gagged her in the mouth.