[porkmarras]

I'm trying to gather as much information as possible because i have been working on some talk show recordings i got off the tv.It is obvious that if you are ever going to release the finished product you will have to ask for permission but i read that V/Vm got around the whole issue in a clever way.Any opinions,experiences etc?

[Tokolosh]

Many countries have different laws. In most cases, it depends on how much of a sample you use. I've heard that if you loop a sample under a couple of seconds and create a new beat that is'nt recognizable, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Here's a UK link that might answer some of your questions.

Part Three - Problems and Solutions has some good tips.
Copyright Law and the Ethics of Sampling

[Inhuman]

In my college I can't in my art; I end up buying stock photography. I always use music samples that are copyrighted though.

[porkmarras]

I can't divulge too much on this matter at the moment but does anyone make their own samples or sound library?

[king_buzzo]

yeah for school stuff

[Glice]

I can put in you in touch with a chap who's a plunderphonics type who can advise you if you need to Porky. He's a very clever chap, and is as articulate as anyone could ever possibly need.

[evollove]

Led Zep got sued by Williw Dixon for stealing lyrics. Jimmy Page's reply? "Well, you only get caught when your successful. That's the game."

In other words, he wasn't at all apologetic.

How does this story make you feel? Pissed at Zep?

How would you feel if your own music was "sampled" by someone else, without permission or payment?

These are ethical questions that only you can answer.

[porkmarras]

Can you delete your post,please?

[TroutFishingUSA]

Just for the record, in the U.S. pretty much any creative use of sampling is illegal. There used to be a loophole that let you use less than 8 beats or something, but no more. Any sample, any length, no matter how manipulated is infringement. If a record company can fiigure it out (and they employ people whose job is to find uncleared samples) they have every legal right to stop you, even if you're not making money. Hell some people (DJ Z-Trip) get stopped even when they offer to give ALL the profits to the artists being sampled

On to samples from TV: pretty much impossible. You have to clear through so many people (the studio, the production company, the person who said it, probably an audio engineer and an editor, and oh yeah, if it was scripted, the writer, too) that it becomes virtually impossible except for the most well funded major label acts (ie platinum rappers)

That being said, I make sample based music and do it without clearing anything (TV or music or broadcast or guerilla). You don't have a lot to worry about until you get noticed, and no one in the industry really notices much except money. My suggestion: just do it as a form of public protest against our current draconian copyright laws.

[jon boy]

your username is marvelous!

[porkmarras]

His post is marvelous too!

[terminal pharmacy]

I did the sound design on a theatre show that went for four hours, i used several hundred samples, each of which needed clearance. This process took almost a year and some were not cleared for use, so I did not use those ones.

You must negotiate with management the rights and price.

But if you want a good place for open source sound and image -- http://www.archive.org/index.php

[TroutFishingUSA]

Originally Posted by terminal pharmacy

I did the sound design on a theatre show that went for four hours, i used several hundred samples, each of which needed clearance. This process took almost a year and some were not cleared for use, so I did not use those ones.

You must negotiate with management the rights and price.

Out of curiosity, did you have any legal assistance to clear the samples? I imagine it would have been a nightmare. I'm always interested to hear about people's dilemma's with sample clearance. I've been studying intellectual property and copyright law in my free time for a couple of years.

My band has trouble pressing vinyl because America has passed legislation that allows the record companies to sue the pressing plants instead of artists for uncleared samples. You know, because there's just not enough money in suing a couple of kids who live 3 deep in a studio apartment, who scraped together the $1000 it costs to do a VERY small pressing run. But they'll be damned if they're going to let you sample that song you're forced to hear on the radio, in the elevator, at the grocery store, on hold with the bank, at a restaurant, in a movie, in a commercial, etc... It's to the point where, sure, we can listen to all kinds of stuff, but we don't really get to choose what we DON'T listen to anymore. It's ridiculous.

Don't even get me started on the whole idea that I BUY something from a store, and some vague media conglomerate has the power to dictate to me what I can and can't do with something I BOUGHT. They want you to believe you're buying music, when in reality all they're doing is granting you a license to listen. Kind of makes that $20 you spent to "support the artist" look like more and more of rip.

Oh well, rant mode: terminated.