Sampling Law/Copyright Law help desperately needed

el_sparko

Hey,Basically i have a report to do and it involves talking about the legalities of sampling. I know it's a tired subject so i've managed to avoid all the usual stuff about how long a snippet you can sample and instead only want to find out about the law regarding being able to use stuff past a certain age. For example, classical music that's hundreds of years old...i heard this can be used with no problems because the copyright has expired or something like that.Can anyone give me more info on this, or links to where i can find out as i'm not having much luck at all and the deadline is fast approaching and facts backed by referenced sources etc... are pretty important.Also, if anyone knows where i can find figures about global sales of hip hop (i know you guys like to obsess over stuff like that haha) then that would be great too.Any help appreciated, it would mean a lot!

crossings

the amount of years it takes for something to lose it's original copyright and become public domain usually depends on the specific country and their copyright laws. last i knew, it was 50 years after the composer died until something would become public domain... but with the music industry changing, and publishing becoming a larger business [because of digital jukeboxes, ringtones, and new licensing situations which are sometimes handled by different publishers than those that administer synch and mechanical use of the songs], they have have been pushing for it to be 95 years now rather than 50. the licensing business is changing almost daily...

crossings

and i know wikipedia isn't the most reliable source of info... but it should be able to point you to decent info and links.

el_sparko

Thanks man, yeah i try and avoid Wikipedia because teachers hate it and always say how it's the worst source you could use because of reliability. But i'll check on there for links, appreciate the help!

crossings

also keep in mind that there are cases where a composer may take a public domain song and add some arrangements of their own to it, in which case they are able to claim writer's shares and publish the work as their own. so just because a certain song is public domain doesn't mean that every version of it is.

keithvanhorn

i know that at a lot of universities, the libraries are equipped with free access to either lexis/nexis or westlaw. you can use those legal research websites to conduct a search of federal copyright law using whatever search terms you please. if you are able to gain access to either of those websites and are having trouble finding what you need, send me a pm and i can offer some tips for searching for cases (something i spend hours doing every day).

whatwhat

Since we're on the subject, here's something I've been wondering about.

Since library records are issued in the public domain, that is, they can be played by radio stations without having to pay royalties, can you sample from library records without paying sample clearance fees? or is that a who other thing completely?

Swayze

If you really want to get on the cutting edge of the intellectual property/sampling debate, take a look at this link:

http://www.antimusic.com/news/07/april/2401.shtml

It involves a congressman from PA using Girl Talk's latest record to determine what's furthering art and what's simply ripping artists off.

karlophone

an important distinction to remember as you do your research: the difference between publishing/songwriting credit, and actual sound recording usage.

for example:

you sample a classical record. the record is from 1970 on Columbia records. the music is Beethoven, 300 years old. You dont need publishing rights, cuz beethoven is public domain, but (assuming you make some $ and get noticed, and the sample is recognizable etc etc) you CAN be sued by Columbia for sampling their 37 year old out of print recording of said music.

el_sparko

Wicked, thanks for all the info, this should really help so cheers!

SLurg

Thanks man, yeah i try and avoid Wikipedia because teachers hate it and always say how it's the worst source you could use because of reliability.

You're right, tell your teacher you got your facts from some website board !

Flomotion

Since we're on the subject, here's something I've been wondering about.

Since library records are issued in the public domain, that is, they can be played by radio stations without having to pay royalties, can you sample from library records without paying sample clearance fees? or is that a who other thing completely?

Library records remain the property of the publisher - radio stations and the like take out a subscription to a library and then take delivery of the LPs/CDs and get to play the tracks royalty free so long as their subscription is valid. Technically, the station doesn't own the physical vinyl or CDs though.

el_sparko

Thanks man, yeah i try and avoid Wikipedia because teachers hate it and always say how it's the worst source you could use because of reliability.

You're right, tell your teacher you got your facts from some website board !

Haha, i only asked on here so it would give me pointers for areas that might give me more information, i won't be quoting the Strut, don't worry...

izm707

if you want i can school you a bit, i'm in the publishing bizness since a while...;-)
But i won't say shit publicly. We gotta tak it to PM or AIM...