On 5/15/05, Walter van Kalken <walter(a)vankalken.net> wrote:
Well I am not a lawyer, but a Brittish
songwriter/producer pensioned in
Thailand is very bittered every time I talk to them. Because people are
using samples from his songs change every 4th bar or so and then he gets
no more rights paid, because it is a "different" work. These are his
words not mine. He still does well though.
Limited sampling can be snuck through via fair use, just as one book
can quote a little from a copyrighted work. The issue is not clear
cut and doesn't work well across international lines (berne convention
copyright protections are pretty stiff), and in the US the court often
finds infringement when presented with such cases. Because of this, it
is considered wise for samplers to ask for permission, and it is often
the case that they pay for the privilege... or they pay dearly when
they transgress, for example it is reported that because the Fugee's
sampled about three bars of Enya's "Boadicea" for use in their
blockbuster hit album "The Score" they were forced to give all the
income from the song to Enya.