Hey,
Just wondering whats legal in the sampling world. How much can I take from a song without getting sued?
Like an instrument? Say I wanted atb instrument in Movin Melodies. I know I culdn't just sample at riff of it and use it but what about one note and then looped it so It was a whole instrument?
Or a drumkit. How much can I take from a kit?
Or what about voices? What legal and whats not?
Are there any guide lines or is it mostly if you can't tell where its from your cool?
thnx guys! I'm really trying to figure this out!
This I got off the Net, I think it sums up what is going on today.
Regards
Legal issues
The age-old legal question that's been hovering around sampling since its conception is, "Where does sampling cross the lines of legality and ownership?" Over the past few decades, this topic has been a battle in the courtroom, because much of sampling is based on taking a short recording of another musician's published material and working it into a song. If the original publisher of the sample has their work reused by another artist for financial gain, then shouldn't the artist pay royalties to the original publisher? Most events like this are handled in a case-by-case manner. Though many traditionalists believe that sampling is stealing another artist's sound, it's mostly regarded as an acceptable form of original composition.
"It is an art form," said Sean Anderson, owner of DJ record label, Harmonious Discord records. "Just like DJing, you're taking a sample sound and manipulating it into something else. With every sound you are doing that, whether it's the sound of a typewriter or a synthesizer that creates tone out of electricity, you're still manipulating that sound to make something new. When you build a patch for an instrument, or detune a guitar, you're doing the same thing, only with sampling it's prerecorded."
The first notable court case of sampling legality issues occurred in the 1980's, involving rap act 2 Live Crew and country singer/songwriter Roy Orbison. 2 Live Crew heavily sampled Orbison's famed song "Pretty Woman" without permission from the artist, his representatives, or the publishing company who owned the reproduction rights of the material. The copyright company of "Pretty Woman" claimed copyright infringement, while 2 Live Crew claimed that they had the right to sample the material under the Fair Use Doctrine. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, with the final decision in 2 Live Crew's favor.
Numerous other similar incidents have appeared since the "Pretty Woman" event, including a case involving DJ and producer Danger Mouse in 2004. The New York DJ had produced an album that was half composed of samples from The Beatles' "The White Album" and the other half from hip-hop icon, Jay Z's "The Black Album," which ultimately became Danger Mouse's "The Grey Album." Danger Mouse had gained permission from Jay Z's representatives to use the samples, but had no permission from "The White Album" record company, EMI. In retaliation, EMI sent out cease and desist letters to retailers selling the album and to Danger Mouse himself, but no court case was ever filed. In response to EMI's letter, an activist group called Downhill Battle worked to have "The Grey Album" download-able for free from various Internet sites for 24 hours.
Despite legal issues, sampling is still widely used today, and there is no immediate legal threat to stop its existence. Many artists have crossed genres with their sampling, combining hip-hop to heavy metal, and have not only made a steady income from it, but also draw more listeners to the original material's work. Sampling is widely considered a valid form of creating music, and continues to play a progressive role in the music industry.
Also including sounds, people are even buying libraries from other makers, changing a little here and there and porting them over to a particular instrument, it happens every day.
Regards
To take a sample from anyone else recording would be considered an infringement. However, depending on how popular the sample is and how recognizable it is will determine how far you could get without being sued.
It is one thing to snag a single snare hit from an old jazz recording, and a far different thing to snag a single note of vocal from say a, oh I don't know, a James Brown scream.
The latter is quickly recognizable and will likely end in a cease and desist order, or legal battle over rights, while sampling a nondescript instrument voice like a snare or horn hit is harder to determine in many cases.
The more abstract the recording you sample from, the less likely you have much to worry about. Some of those old recordings may have never been registered. After that let your conscience be your guide.
Thanks guys,
I'll read what you put later Grapite. caus i aint got time now.
but say specifically i took a Snare from a Timbaland song, a drum can be replicated right? so theres no way to really know right?
I mean I just heard a riff i could swear was in another song. How will anyone no if I did it my self or i sampled it? With voice its quite obvoius.
thnx
Ultimate Dj,
I wouldn't really worry about sampling some hits from someone, unless it's maybe an unmistakable phrase or something. With me specifically, over the years I've sampled so many things from hits, crashes, jets, etc. The sounds from other instruments can and will always be sampled even if some else has already done it, and like I said before, people take others samples and work all the time and redo them for themselves and or for sale, that's just the way it is for now until there is some major law suit that sets a precedent.
Regards
