Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with music of the last thirty or forty years understands that sampling remains a big part of the creative process for many musicians. The art of taking something old and turning it into something new and innovative has provided the foundation for thousands of releases and has spawned scores of musical genres. However, it is an art form with a number of legal nuances.
The video goes beyond the simple legal nuances and touches upon the practical realities.
The Art and Reality of Sampling
I really liked this recent Red Bull Music Academy video featuring a group of established hip hop producers, including 9th Wonder and Just Blaze. Lots of good information in here, but the most valuable part of the discussion (in my opinion at least) and the part that I wanted to share, begins right after the hour mark (the link below goes directly to it) when they get into some of the realities of clearing samples.
As a lawyer, it is often tempting to go straight to the copyright issues of sampling (and of other “appropriation art” projects), ignoring the associated business and relationship aspects of the art. That’s a mistake, as the legal aspects are just one part of the overall process.
In the above video, the producers make some interesting points about how they go about securing clearances for samples that they want to use in their work:
- For a good portion of the music released in the sixties and seventies, the publishing and other rights are often held by the children or other heirs of the original artist. Those children have grown up with sample-based music and understand what the producers are doing and so are more ready to strike a deal.
- Where the original musicians still control the rights, the producers build relationships with the original musicians. Because of this, many of the original musicians are happy to have their work used in new compositions; it helps to keep their music alive for a new generation.
- Getting clearances can often be complicated by the content of the new work, and it’s important to take that into consideration. It’s not always about the money for the original artist.
But the underlying concept that all of the producers acknowledge and respect is that somebody else holds the legal rights to the works. Part of their art in securing clearances is to take a holistic view of the process, engaging the original musicians as collaborators. This is a great development in the history of music and sampling.
How Does The Reality of Sampling Extend to Other Creative Endeavors?
I know that not all of my readers are not hip hop producers, but many creative endeavors often involve incorporating the work of other people into a new creative work. So I want to make the broader point that the same sort of principles apply to other projects that build upon the works of others: anthologies, films, photo exhibits, appropriation art, websites, etc. These ventures often involve getting the permission of somebody else, through some sort of license agreement.
Sometimes, the deal will only be about the money. However, in other cases it’s also about respecting the other artist and skillfully including them in the dialogue (failing to do this tends to lead to lawsuits, which really slow down creative momentum). Most artists do tend to want to see their ideas extended or reinterpreted, but also want the acknowledgement that goes along with it.
My final point is really that while copyright law represents a factor in getting a creative project done, it is not the only factor. Being practical often involves being resourceful and finding ways to connect with other artists to get them to buy in to your vision.
