The subject of Intellectual Property (“copyright”) regulations also includes music production. Among other contemporary trends in music production, the “sampling” method is now widely used in various music genres, especially in hip-hop, synthwave, and the electronic scene.
This is the process by which a sample, i.e., a “part” of another, already existing piece, is used to compose a new musical piece. Often this is not even limited to the reuse of elements from older tracks, but also uses audio cues from speeches or recorded conversations, from news, from movies, etc.
The problem with sampling can be found in the explosive combination of art and standardized legality. The golden mean between the two is difficult to find due to a fact that often remains overlooked, which is that in art there is no parthenogenesis.
This is when sampling presents a problem for the IP regulations. If the sample is unauthorized, which is a very common case in music practice and production, or if the authorization for the song is partial, not covering sampling purposes.
Τhe Kraftwerk v. Moses Pelham case is a landmark case in copyright law, exactly because it presents the existing problem in a very clear way. CJEU reached two interesting conclusions with the decision for this case. Firstly, it came to the conclusion that the unauthorized use of another artist’s work through sampling violates their right to their work. However, it also ruled that the use of a foreign work, in a form so altered that “it is not recognizable by ear” and cannot be identified with the original work used through sampling, is permitted and does not constitute an infringement.
Whichever the reservations relating this case’s conclusions may be, the only certain thing is that this decision is a milestone for music and intellectual property, and it will determine the future trends in the field, which so far have been remixing and sampling until final stand!
Subsequently, the adequate legal solution in order to prevent possible copyright infringements would be to issue a copyright/editing license for the sample, before releasing any artwork. We at law concept are qualified and are surely willing to assist you in the relevant legal process.