From: EIVERSO@cms.cc.wayne.edu
Subject: Sampling laws? Re: Casey Kasem wrote and boy is he pissed...
Organization: Wayne State University, Detroit MI  U.S.A.
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 19:58:06 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.160602.9540@newsgate.sps.mot.com>
birkelan@atelm.Berkeley.EDU (Joel Birkeland) writes:
 
>Seems to me that Mr. Kasem is 100% in the right on this one.
>
>Irrespective of the legal issue, I have always felt that real
>musicians make their own music, rather than steal it from others.
 
I agree. However I make my own music, and I sample too!:)
My sampling is mainly limited to spoken words or noises, from television
or movies. I don't feel comfortable sampling music other than single notes
or a single drum beat (like the kinds found in any Casio organ or in
many drum  machines). I'm not the least bit worried about the minimal
music sampling I do, but I often wonder about the legal ramifications
of the vocal sampling.
 
Let's suppose I lift Clint Eastwood's voice from
Dirty Harry where he says "Well do ya, punk?"--is that legal?
I would be inclined to think I can do that without fear of litigation
because Dirty Harry is not a song--I am not stealing a melody from
someone's song, rather I'm just adapting a piece of popular culture
much in the way a photographer captures the world around him.
 
Certainly sampling a small section of non-musical sound would be
less infringing on copyright than say, making a silkscreen of a Campbell's
Soup can. Right? Andy Warhol was sued for doing the same but he won
the suit.
 
This kind of sampling has long been part of popular music. The Beatles
sampled (using tape) sections of performances of a Shakespeare play, for
instance. I do recall, however, that they were sued for lifting
portions of a Benny Goodman song. I think it was a question of notes
rather than sound in that case. (Are the Beatles considered "real
musicians" still?) :) :) :) They also used tape recordings of
calliope (?) and harpsichord  music which was cut-up and taped together
to create the ending of "All For the Benefit of Mr. Kite". There are
many other examples, but that will do.
 
One interesting aspect for the type of sampling I do is how sampling is
somehow preferable to re-creation of the spoken words. There is an
intrinsic quality to Clint's voice that makes it preferable to imitating
him. However if I did imitate him (or found someone who does it well)
then I would be free of any fear of legal prosecution. After all, the
phrase "Well do ya, punk?" itself certainly can't be copyrighted. Right?
 
By sampling him, what am I stealing? The sound recording itself?
If that is the case, then I wonder if the sound of the whistling
wind is copyrightable--provided it was wind noise that appears in a
copyrighted motion picture, of course.
 
Anyhow, my impression of legit use of sampling is the kind that does not
steal a series of notes. I know that sound recording is also copyrightable,
but there sould be allowable amounts, just as in the case of a book review
that quotes short passages without permission.
 
The bottom line in all the legal questions involving sampling must be
exactly that: the bottom line--how much is being made off the sampling?
I'm not worried about any lawsuits because I'm just small potatoes.
If I ever start raking in lots of cash for my music, then I'll really
become concerned with law. Until then, I don't represent enough of a
prize for anyone to sue me for using samples which might or might not
violate copyright law.
 
I wonder if sampling has ever played the role of free advertising, and
led to increased sales of the sampled source material.
 
I'd really appreciate some hard facts on the legal issues involved
with sampling (everyone is an armchair lawyer), or if someone can
give me pointers to sources for the info.
 
Thanks
--Eric
Newsgroups: comp.music