]]>jefftheworld wrote:Don't forget that a sound can't be copyrighted. So if you sample individual sounds rather than elements of a composition you'll be fine.
Ie, sampling a snare drum is safe, sampling a bar of drums may not be.
I may or may not know what I'm talking about.
You're sorta right. The way I was always taught is that the recording itself is the media in question and every waveform in that recording is subject to the copyrights. Will anyone recognize a single snare hit from a semi popular song? Probably not. My advice is if you sample, you should also plan on modifying it enough to be able to call it you're own.
The performance and the arrangement may be copyright, but "the sound of a snare" is not a valid copyright. It's possible that someone would try to take you to court to sue over stealing their "performance" of a single hit of a snare but they'd be so unlikely to win and potential remuneration would be so small it wouldn't be likely to happen.
]]>slightly less pretentious than I thought
]]>]]>http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/ - interesting and important reading matter re:copyright in general
Even artist such as Daft Punk have every song they used for samples or remixing listed on their albums. If you give credit to the artist you tend to find yourself in a loophole that DJs tend to get by with.
Pretty sure Daft Punk actually get their samples cleared. Giving credit is not a loophole in the unlikely event that someone does try to take legal action.
Daft punk get permission for the samples that they use.
There's also the opposite approach which I doubt is up to much either:
For the avoidance of doubt, all music on this record, except where specifically noted, was played by or is comprised of samples originally created by Alec Empire or Nic Endo of Atari Teenage Riot.
YEAH NOT BLATANTLY SAMPLED FROM SLAYER OR ANYTHING.
I'd forgotten about Atari Teenage Riot, are they disliked or anything? I find it hard to keep up with what the chip scene hates.
]]>Even artist such as Daft Punk have every song they used for samples or remixing listed on their albums. If you give credit to the artist you tend to find yourself in a loophole that DJs tend to get by with.
Pretty sure Daft Punk actually get their samples cleared. Giving credit is not a loophole in the unlikely event that someone does try to take legal action.
There's also the opposite approach which I doubt is up to much either:
For the avoidance of doubt, all music on this record, except where specifically noted, was played by or is comprised of samples originally created by Alec Empire or Nic Endo of Atari Teenage Riot.
YEAH NOT BLATANTLY SAMPLED FROM SLAYER OR ANYTHING.
So, what exactly are the rules about sampling?
Don't forget that a sound can't be copyrighted. So if you sample individual sounds rather than elements of a composition you'll be fine.
Ie, sampling a snare drum is safe, sampling a bar of drums may not be.
I may or may not know what I'm talking about.
You're sorta right. The way I was always taught is that the recording itself is the media in question and every waveform in that recording is subject to the copyrights. Will anyone recognize a single snare hit from a semi popular song? Probably not. My advice is if you sample, you should also plan on modifying it enough to be able to call it you're own.
]]>My older stuff used tons of samples, but its not like you could pick out a track in a song and know what it was from. I was always told that you were allowed 3 sec of sampling from a musician friend of mine. Don't have a clue if that's true or not but I never wanted to test it. Copyright laws aren't so cut and dry either. If you've ever tried to look into them to see where you might be pushing it the lines you'll notice that they tend to be vague or overlap. Most of the times I've noticed record labels are more interested in people downloading illegally then for copyright issues. Best rule of thumb I always went by was to 1. Never sell a song that I used a sample in, ever. 2. Give credit to the artist you used. Even artist such as Daft Punk have every song they used for samples or remixing listed on their albums. If you give credit to the artist you tend to find yourself in a loophole that DJs tend to get by with. If someone knows where that track is from then they can find the original and possibly buy it, so in a sense you're helping to promote said artist.
Excellent words of wisdom right there.
]]>It is okay if we sample whatever we want, but if Crystal Castles do, ITS THEFT
/leaves the room
]]>awesomeforce wrote:i think you're fine no matter what you do. just don't get famous.
That's my constant fear, and why I always asks these kind of legal questions. I don't think I will get famous, cause I have next to zero chance, but in the back of my mind I'm always thinking, "But what if I do... It'll all be illegal, therefore the fame will only be momentary."
You don't need to fear this at all. Obviously I'm not saying "You'll never be famous! Give up!" What I'm saying is, while getting well-known is a lot about luck, you absolutely need to satisfy the prerequisite of being really good at your music. You need to be really good. So unless you think you're already THAT GOOD that you could become really well-known with one of your songs, you really don't need to worry.
When you feel like you're getting close to that standard where things could kick off and sky-rocket for you with any one of your upcoming tracks, that's when to think about it. Be careful with your samples, maybe just stop sampling completely. The fact that you have old songs that used samples doesn't matter a bit, it's not like you'd be trying to sell those.
TL;DR, don't worry about it