MUSIC SAMPLING: BEST PRACTICES, BETTER BALANCEBy Yardan Muhammad

Is Music Sampling Still Stealing? Sampling without permission of the

copyright owner is copyright infringement and illegal.

Sampling has opened up vast palates of sound to innovative artists who are able to harness its potential.

Sampling has increased in popularity and acceptance in the mainstream.

It has become an alternative to traditional music composition

Panning for balance Artists work extremely hard to create

original art and deserve, ethically and legally, to profit from the creation and use of their work.

Copyright laws guarantee certain exclusive rights to authors and artists.

These rights include the exclusive right to sound recordings which practically makes all forms of sampling an infringing use.

Call to Action It is our responsibility, as artists, to fight to protect the

ownership of our work and ensure that we can continue to produce creative works for the benefit of the public good while reserving the power to profit from our labors.

This responsibility entails voicing our opinions and concerns with lawmakers in order to ensure that legislation is not unduly restrictive.

It also entails collaboration and cooperation with other artists so that collectively we make beneficial strides towards striking a balance between promoting creativity and innovation, with fair compensation and control of our work.

I propose that artists collectively engage in discussion to establish a Best Practices for Music Sampling.

Sampling Sampling technology allows us to remix,

modify and transform segments of the works of others into completely new and creative works, opening up almost limitless possibilities in art and innovation. If you use any segment of a recording, without

permission, it is infringement under the law. This needs to be revised to take into consideration the fact that these sounds can be greatly modified and repurposed in extremely creative ways which is in line with the original intention of copyright law of promoting the progress of the arts.

Why a “Best Practices for Music Sampling”? “Best Practices” provide standards of

agreed upon conduct that essentially serve to provide self-regulation within an industry This could enhance integrity and ethics while

providing clarity and boundaries to the art of sampling

It would involve the input of music analysts, academics, artists and musicology experts to determine more appropriate thresholds for infringing and non-infringing usages.

Best Practices for Music Sampling Other benefits include the opportunity to educate

artists on the implications of musical borrowing, how to avoid infringement and costly litigation, and maintaining integrity and ethical behavior within the music industry.

Artist input and general consensus will allow for a more comprehensive, fair and updated copyright landscape

After several revisions and further development, the Best Practices manual can be used as a guide to establish and revise the current copyright scheme.

Current copyright law is inadequate The system currently in place did not

anticipate or properly account for the capabilities that are now available in music composition via “sample-mangling.”

Fair Use provisions are not sufficiently predictable enough to establish a hard-line boundary. There is no real formula to go by, only a weighing of several factors which are non-exclusive; some factors may weigh heavier than others.

Copyright Law: Article I, Section 8, Clause 8

The Congress shall have the power to...promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the Exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

Defenses: Fair Use

Purpose or character of use(Is it for commercial, educational, or journalistic purposes?)

Nature of the copied work (is it creative fiction, or fact-based, which may belong in the public domain?)

Extent of the use (was it just a small snippet? Or a longer key passage? Was it transformative or outright sampling?)

Effect on the market for the original (does the new work supplant the market of the original?)

Defenses: De minimis – basically, the extent of the

use of the sample is negligible or too general or insignificant to warrant protection.

Call to Action: Get in touch with your local legislators when new legislation is being

proposed in order to submit comments and briefs so that your voices and opinions are heard. The law is a tool that should serve the purposes of the people involved.

Get involved with or establish committees to help begin the process of developing a best practices guide. Through collaboration and self-regulation, we are opening the doors to communication and getting closer to finding middle ground.

Sample responsibly! Give credit or attribution when the sample is easily recognizable. Get in

contact with the copyright owner or get permission to be fair to other artists. I’m sure you can appreciate the hard work they put into their craft, just as you do

Use alternative licensing schemes such as Creative Commons which provide the ability for expanded and less restrictive uses of the protected piece.

Keep the discussion alive! Help others become aware of the issue and stay abreast of further developments so that people don’t turn a blind eye to a growing problem. Once the ball gets rolling, you want it going in the right direction!