You CANNOT sample music without permission, no matter how short or long the sample is. Copyright is copyright. And if the sample is recognizable (hell, even if it isn't recognizable), you're using another person's intellectual property in order to construct or enhance your own.
Or merely a ten-second refrain? Unfortunately, there are no fixed standards as to how much of a song you can use without infringing the song owner's copyright. Of course, the shorter you can make the clip, the stronger your argument for fair use protection.
Sampling without permission usually violates two rights – copyright in the sound recording (owned by an artist or record company) and copyright in the song itself (owned by the songwriter or music publishing company).
Indeed, an artist who samples without permission infringes on both the copyright in the sound recording and the copyright in the composition. Specifically, this duality of infringement is due to the fact that a track with samples from pre-existing sound recordings is considered a derivative work.
Sample clearance is the process of obtaining permission to use a sample from the owners of the original audio. It involves contacting the owner of the recording and the song (which can be different people) and asking for permission to use it.
Clear Your Sample
The best (and legal way) to use that perfect, copyrighted sample is to get it cleared with the songwriter or the publisher who owns the rights. The same thing goes for the particular recording of the song you sampled. The copyright, in most cases, is owned by the artist or their record label.
Payments are typically at the discretion of the copyright owners. License fees from major projects can start as low as $2,500 but can get very expensive depending on how much of the sample or interpolation is used. Payments are split amongst the owners of the copyright, based on their percentage of ownership.
Being a producer involves many duties, and one of the more intricate ones involves finding samples and getting clearance for them for a new song and album. While it can be frustrating to go through, having an idea of what to do beforehand lessens that frustration to make for an easier journey to finish.
This is one of the most common misconceptions. Unfortunately, this is not true and there is no bright line rule that says a use is an acceptable use as long as you only use 5, 15, or 30 seconds of a song. Any use of copyrighted material without permission is, according to U.S. copyright law, copyright infringement.
Giving credit to the owner of a copyrighted work won't by itself turn a non-transformative copy of their material into fair use. Phrases like “all rights go to the author” and “I do not own” don't automatically mean you're making fair use of that material.
A sample so brief that the underlying composition is unrecognizable may only require a license to use the sound recording. Conversely, a long sample would need a license for the sound recording plus permission for the musical composition.
In general, though, you can expect to pay anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars for sample clearance. Of course, the best way to avoid costly surprises is to plan and budget for sample clearance from the get-go.
According to the Copyright Act of 1976, as amended in 1998, works created on or after January 1, 1978 are protected by copyright for 70 years after the creator's death. If you're looking to sample music created by a group, it may be protected for even longer.
Total royalties owed to a songwriter can account for up to $. 09 per reproduction or sale of a song and up to . 02 per stream of a song. Mechanical royalties are owed to the composers (including the songwriters) and publisher of a musical work each time a song is sold (50% for the composer and 50% for the publisher).
Well, to legally use a sample, you'll need permission to use both the master recording and the underlying composition. But for an interpolation, you'll only need to get permission for the underlying composition.
At that point, if you don't, you're going to be in trouble. Remember the adage '”Where there's a hit there's a writ” – it is the absolute truth. Secondly, if your record contains a sample and you didn't clear it, you are infringing the original owner's copyright – and they have you 'bang to rights'.
Generally, you need to get permission from both the owner of the sound recording and the copyright owner of the musical work. Assuming you have the permission to use the music, you can leverage it in your own sound recording. Do not use samples if you don't have proper permission, unless you want to go to court.
The suit alleges that “Come Back Baby” samples Jackson's “I Can't Do Without You.” Lawyers for FAME claim that the company owns the copyright for the original song—it was recorded in 1972, prior to the Copyright Act of 1972—and would not have licensed the sample due to the fact that the Pusha T record is “about drug ...
If you plan to commercially release your music, you probably will need to get written permission from the copyright owners of any music that you are sampling. Otherwise, you could be sued for copyright infringement and prevented from distributing your music.
But sampling is simply not stealing. If used in the incorrect way, at worst, it's copyright infringement, which is implicitly different than theft. And at this point in music, how can anyone be entirely creative in anything they do?
Some feel that it's recycling or even stealing — we worry about legal action and originality. But sampling is one of the last places for growth in music. It's a way to cite other artists, to pay homage and to build communities across time. This isn't a new concept.
If you use "samples" of other people's music in your own music, you should first obtain written permission, so as to avoid allegations of copyright infringement. This is particularly true if you intend to release your music commercially and profit from the sales.