When P. Diddy rapped in 1997 about taking "hits from the '80s," it didn't sound so crazy, because sampling had been an integral part of rap music for years.

On Tuesday, however, a federal appeals court found the process a bit less reasonable, ruling that artists must pay for every musical sample in their work.

The ruling says artists must pay for not only large samples of another artist's work, but also snippets — smaller notes, chords and beats that are not the artist's original composition — which had previously been legal, according to The Associated Press.

Three judges sitting on the panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said the same federal laws currently in place to halt music piracy will also apply to digital sampling, and explained, "If you cannot pirate the whole sound recording, can you 'lift' or 'sample' something less than the whole? Our answer to that question is in the negative."

The case at the crux of this new ruling focuses on the 1990 N.W.A song "100 Miles and Runnin'." The track samples a three-note guitar riff from a 1975 Funkadelic track, "Get Off Your Ass and Jam." The sample, in which the pitch has been lowered, is only two seconds long but is looped to extend to 16 beats and appears five times throughout the track.

The N.W.A song was included in the 1998 film "I Got the Hook Up," which starred Master P and was produced by his No Limit Films. The film company has argued that the sample was not protected by copyright law.

In 2002, a lower court said that although the Clinton riff was in fact entitled to copyright protection, the specific sample "did not rise to the level of legally cognizable appropriation," according to the AP. The appeals court opposed that decision, explaining that an artist who acknowledges that they made use of another artist's work may be liable, and sent the case back to the lower court.

"Get a license or do not sample," the court said Tuesday. "We do not see this as stifling creativity in any significant way."





Sorry, I don't have a link

PurpleCharm said:

I guess this would put P Diddy out of business.

Moonwalkbjrain posted 2 full articles here: http://www.prince.org/msg/8/114376

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

i thought they had to pay anyway..

it was anything over 8 bars had to be sent through a clearing house... now if u sample a riff or a note, it has to be cleared...

Well, those motherfuckers can TRY to catch me.

It's about time! I think this is great news. Now they will have to write their own original lyrics and believe me, many will not have a clue as to how this is done. Take Mase for example. His new song is a disgrace. He should've stayed in church. He has nothing to offer rap or hip hop music IMO. On the other hand, many will just pay because so many people buy their shit music and make them millionaires anyways.

Will Smith is the biggest sampler.....

Oh well. I guess it's

Kurtains for Kanye!
Kurtains for Kanye!
Kurtains for Kanye!
Kurtains for Kanye!
Kurtains for Kanye!

Lately i heard the original tune of 'my name is' by Eminem. One big fat rip off.

back in the days rap was cool, i know laugh at it.

all hail Chuck D.. the best ever.

Yeah, chuck did not use samples but his ego is the biggest ever.....what a dickhead!

okaypimpn said:

So long Kanye and P-Diddy.

thesexofit said:

you gotta be a dickhead in this world to make it
Prince's ego might be bigger, no?

thesexofit said:

id sit at 510 south franklin with those cats... chuck used the following


Rock steady ( aretha franklin) My uzi weighs a ton
The grunt (the Jb's) Rebel without a pause
Psychadelic shack ( Temptations) Terrordome

oh yes he hasssss

http://www.newpowerclique...ksShow.mp3


download this and tell me u dont hear shit that cats sampled all from my original records
[Edited 9/13/04 11:06am]

Y'all are acting like sampling 3 notes from a guitar solo and working that into a beat ISN'T creative (especially for 1991)?? "100 Miles" is dope, straight up.

Dr. Dre is an example for aspiring producers, so all this rah-rah about how this will make people more creative, well newsflash, people are already clearing and paying for samples (loops) that are a big part of the original song.

So the only change I see is making someone like DJ Premier pay for his awesomely-creative chopped up beats. If you don't have respect for the creativity of the likes of Premier then you really don't give a shit about real hip-hop. And THAT's the truth.

This law won't turn every hip-hop act into the Bar-Kays or whatever fucking live instrumentation you expect of everyone. That's not hip-hop (don't even bring up The Roots, they are an exception, not the rule).

And another thing, laws do not inspire people to hibernate and learn guitar. Laws like this are the reason you hear beats like "Holidae Inn" by Chingy and "Yeah" by Usher.

CinisterCee said:

Thumbsup: True. I am inclined to agree with you this one.

CinisterCee said:

Amen to that.

Hotlegs said:

Thank you Hotlegs. As I see it, all this law did was make the tiniest 1 or 2 second blips of sound information liable for (once) baseless lawsuits. Chaka Khan was already protected for years from the likes of Kanye "Through The Wire" with existing laws. Now it's overreaching and limiting for producers with alot of creativity but small recording budgets.

It isn't common sense to suggest that everyone in hip-hop should plug in their guitars, which I read time and time again on this forum. If a person can't respect sampling/hip-hop, they oughta leave it alone.

kisscamille said:

BLAH BLAH BLAH

See what I mean? Absolutely clueless. This orger went on to cite Ma$e as an example of hip-hop.

It's not even the law that has me revved so much as the reaction of some of y'all orgers dismissing ALL sampling as uncreative... how this is such a "victory for originality".

I am appauled and shocked.

Hmmm.. george clinton is gonna be Rich... ER

okaypimpn said:

Nope. Kanye, Will Smith, P. Diddy et al. will continue to sample because they now have the stroke to pay for a license and still clear a lot of cash.

I always thought sampling actually helped artists in a big way. Many who grew up in the hip-hop era discovered (or re-discovered) classic artists in the samples of Run-DMC, Eric B. & Rakim, The Beastie Boys, PE et al. It can be profitable in more ways than one for an artists, particularly since "rap" is on the charts now. A key sample can revitalize or resurrect a career.