Rap artists are liable for every music sample, no matter how
small or unrecognisable, that they use in their work, the US
Federal Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled on Tuesday,
according to the Associated Press.
The case relates to the manipulation of a three-note riff from
the 1975 Funkadelic song Get Off Your Ass and Jam. This, reports
the Associated Press, was used by gangsta rap group NWA in their
1990 hit song 100 Miles and Runnin, which itself was featured in
the film "I Got the Hook Up" produced by No Limit Films.
Bridgeport Music and Westbound Records, the copyright holders of
the Funkadelic song, sued No Limit Films, claiming copyright
infringement. They lost the case before the district court in 2002
on the grounds that the riff was not identifiable.
A Cincinnati Appeals court has now overturned that ruling, on
the basis that the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act –
more commonly used to target on-line music piracy – also prohibits
sampling.
"If you cannot pirate the whole sound recording, can you 'lift'
or 'sample' something less than the whole? Our answer to that
question is in the negative", said the Court.
"Get a license or do not sample. We do not see this as stifling
creativity in any significant way".
