Sampling Do’s and Don’ts
(A guide to stealing recorded material)
Sampling is not legal, international copyright law states that the use of recorded material without the artists consent is betrayal of their intellectual property* (*check legal wording and speak to AMCOS for a statement of current law).
But we know it happens all the time. Do you think that every major release with sampled material has been thoroughly combed through and every sample has been permitted and paid for? Unlikely.
So how do people get away with it? We’ll it’s an extremely loose situation. Artists get away with sampling other music because they use only small unrecognizable samples.
Bigger samples or melodic parts need to be declared and paid for. There may also be a conflict with the original songwriter and not just the owner of the recording. It may be that the melody is a key part of the new song. And in that case the original songwriter will be entitled to a share of the songs royalties and any future income.
Now that’s a situation you’ll want to avoid, unless you have a team of highly paid copyright lawyers at hand who are willing to bend over backwards to get you the best deal.
So if you decide to sample music it’s probably wise to use short unrecognizable samples. Drums are great because they can be cut up and rearranged into a new beat and nobody will be any wiser.
Using melodic parts is very tricky. It’s probably best to use single notes to avoid any chance of stealing someone’s melody ‘accidentally’
There is a wealth of recorded sound on the planet that can be sampled but as a loose rule the shorter the sample and the more obscure the source, the less likely it is that you’ll have lawyers knocking on you door.
For example it’s probably unlikely that you’ll get away with sampling some Britney vocals. But a single word from this 1964 kids albums “Sparky and the magic train” is probably not going to get you into trouble.
Old movies are also great. They are a wealth of colorful dialogue and atmospheric substance. But the same rules apply keep it short an unrecognizable.
Here is a quick list of formats that can be sampled easily:
DVD
CD
VHS
Vinyl
Internet streaming: ie Youtube
Now we are not gonna sit here and tell you it’s ok to break the law. Any illegal sampling you do is your business and if you want to take the chance go ahead. Just don’t cry poor if somebody calls you up, wanting their money.
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