PGFM/MediaPunch/Corbis

It might be time to start a Kickstarter for Kanye West. That's the call from Deadmau5 (aka music producer and DJ Joel Thomas Zimmerman) after he spotted what looked like Kanye's attempt to download music editing software from online file-sharing site The Pirate Bay.

In typical rockstar fashion, Deadmau5 used some colourful words.

Language warning: Cussing imminent.

Kanye tweeted a screenshot of his Youtube listening habits today (in this case, a clip of Sufjan Stevens' acoustic exercise in melancholia, "Death With Dignity"). Unfortunately for Yeezy, he committed the first sin of screenshots: Forgetting to crop out his browser tabs, lest anyone see what he's been up to the Internet.

One eagle-eyed friend noticed. Enter fellow musician Deadmau5, who spotted that Kanye's recent searches included the Serum sound editing software from Xfer Records, as well as a Pirate Bay search for Xfer.

Let's paint a picture as to why this is particularly awkward.

Less than a year ago, Kanye and Deadmau5 stood side-by-side in a show of anti-piracy solidarity for the splashy launch of Tidal, Jay Z's new music streaming service. The rapper and husband to Beyonce had founded Tidal as a streaming service for serious audiophiles who believed that artists deserved to be paid fairly for their music. Heck, it was the platform that Taylor Swift switched to when she shook off Spotify after publicly campaigning for fair compensation for musicians' work.

Now playing: Watch this: Kanye the software pirate? These apps could help his...

Standing with a fellow artist against dodgy downloads, only to have that artist call you on your BS? Not a great look.

Just last month, Kanye was calling on music fans to download Tidal telling them that his new album, The Life of Pablo would only be released through the digital platform. A few days later, it was revealed that Kanye was reportedly meeting with his legal team to discuss suing The Pirate Bay for "selling illegal download records" of the same record.

But even though Deadmau5 outed Kanye for jumping on board the pirate ship, he was willing to throw Mr West a lifeline, by offering to "start a Kickstarter" to help Kanye afford his copy of the Serum software. A "small loan" of $200 should do it, he said.

We're not sure if this is a subtle jibe at Kanye's recent claim that he was $53 million in debt, or his call out to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking him to invest a tidy $1 billion in "Kanye West ideas."

"Yes I am personally rich and I can buy furs and houses for my family," he wrote in a series of tweets. "But I need access to more money in order to bring more beautiful ideas to the world...Also for anyone that has money they know the first rule is to use other people's money."

But if the artists themselves are pirating, we're all doomed.

Perhaps Deadmau5 is right: It might be time to #prayforyeezy.

Update, March 2 at 8p.m. PT: Well, it didn't take long for things to escalate. Kanye has taken the fight back to Deadmau5 -- sorry, "Dead-mau-five" -- and it's not pretty. But it is hilarious!