Sampling involves reusing portions of existing sound recordings in new songs. It has been an important part of genres like hip hop since the 1970s but is controversial from a legal perspective. Legally, sampling is evaluated on a case by case basis and may be considered fair use, as was determined in the landmark 1994 Supreme Court case Campbell vs. Acuff-Rose regarding 2 Live Crew's parody of a Roy Orbison song. Famous sampled songs include "Amen Break" and Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up".

1. THE ART OF MUSIC
SAMPLING

2. In music, sampling is the act of taking a
portion (sample) of one sound
recording and reusing it as
an instrument or a sound recording in a
different song or piece.
WHAT IS SAMPLING?

3. "Sampling is lacking in creativity"
vs
"Sampling has been innovative and revolutionary"

4. 1960s – experimental
musicians and musique
concrete, electroacoustic
1970s – Hip Hop and
scratch DJs
Mid-1970s – Electronic
music and disco
HISTORY

5. Tchaikovsky
1812 Overture (1880)
La Marseillaise 1792
God Save the Tsar! 1833
At the Gate, at My Gate - Traditional Folk 1854
O Lord, Save Thy People (Hymn) 1863

6. Loops
Variety of short samples of beats strung together; a
repeating section of sound material
Musical instrument
Sampling of a sound
TYPES

7. 6 second drum solo
1969 by "G. C." Colemann
"Amen, Brother” The Winstons
Used in:
Hip hop, breakbeat hardcore, hardcore
techno and breakcore, jungle, D&B, TV
advertisement.
“AMEN BREAK”

8. No royalties
Plagiarism
Flattering

9. Sampling is an area of contention
from a legal perspective
LEGAL ISSUES

10. Campbell vs. Acuff-Rose, 1994
(Roy Orbison v. 2 Live Crew)
SUPREME COURT CASE

11. The court ruled that any financial gain 2 Live Crew
received from their version did not infringe upon
Acuff-Rose because the two songs were targeted at
very different audiences.
2 Live Crew's use of copyrighted material was
protected under the fair use doctrine, as parody,
even though it was released commercially

12. "The highest form of flattery is imitation”
“Good artists copy. Great artists steal”

13. Samples are fair use (a legal doctrine in the USA)
International sampling is governed by agreements
such as the Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works and the WIPO Copyright
and Performances and Phonograms Treaties
Implementation Act
REGULATION

14. BLURRED LINES CASE
Marvin Gaye “Got to Give It Up” (1977)
Robin Thicke “Blurred Lines” (2013)

16. Let’s hear some examples!

17. (for John)
Fifth harmony “Work from home” (2016)
Daniel Bedingfield “Gotta Get Thru This” (2002)

18. Edwin Birdsong
“Coca cola bottle baby” (1975)
Daft Punk “Harder Better Faster”
(2001)
Kanye West “Stronger” (2007)

19. “Notorious” by Duran Duran
“Notorious” by Notorious BIG

20. “Butterfly” by Crazy town
“Ditty” by Chili peppers

21. Questions?
Comments?