Supreme Court to Clarify Copyright Infringement Limits in Case Against Warner Music; The Hollywood Reporter, September 29, 2023

Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter; Supreme Court to Clarify Copyright Infringement Limits in Case Against Warner Music

"The Supreme Court will clear up how far back copyright holders can recover damages for infringement in a case involving a Florida producer who sued Warner Chappell Music after Flo Rida sampled a song he owns.

The justices agreed on Friday to review an appeal from Warner Music and Artist Publishing Group of a lower court’s ruling that recovery for damages that occurred prior to the three-year window to sue is allowed. The decision may clarify uncertainty over whether there is truly open-ended copyright liability, as two federal appeals courts have recently held."

Madonna prevails in copyright lawsuit over 'Vogue' song; Reuters, 6/2/16

Dan Levine, Reuters; Madonna prevails in copyright lawsuit over 'Vogue' song:

"In a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California ruled that a general audience would not recognize the 0.23-second snippet in "Vogue" as originating from the song "Love Break."

Shep Pettibone, a producer of "Vogue," also recorded "Love Break" in the early 1980's, according to the court ruling.

The plaintiff, VMG Salsoul LLC, owns the copyright to "Love Break" and alleged Pettibone sampled the "horn hit" from the earlier work and added it to "Vogue."...

The dissenting judge, Barry Silverman, said even a small sample of music, used without a license, should be a copyright violation. "In any other context, this would be called theft," Silverman wrote.

Robert Besser, a lawyer for VMG Salsoul, said in a phone interview: "I agree with the dissent because it should be an infringement for copying any piece of any sound recording." He said his client would review its legal options."

Beastie Boys Face New Suit Over Sampling; New York Times, 5/8/12

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Beastie Boys Face New Suit Over Sampling:

"In the suit, filed in United States District Court in Manhattan, TufAmerica, the company that controls the rights to Trouble Funk’s music, says it found that the Beastie Boys had used pieces of the group’s songs “Say What” (from 1982) and “Drop the Bomb” (from 1985). These samples were so fully integrated into the Beastie Boys’ music, the suit claims, that they are undetectable to a casual listeners, and that “only after a careful audio analysis” was TufAmerica able to find the sample. The suit seeks unspecified damages."

Recycled riffs – samples of music biz justice; Guardian, 6/23/11

Angus Batey, Guardian; Recycled riffs – samples of music biz justice:

"One possibility is that samplers are ignoring the law and just sampling anyway, and because the sampled artists don't have the resources to hire lawyers, the samplers get away with it," Joo says. "Another possibility is that sampled artists do negotiate deals, but they get ripped off. The third possibility is that the sampled artists negotiate a good deal, and end up better off. All three of those things are definitely happening. The question is, which happens more? I don't know. But at least the existence of a copyright regime means there is a possibility of the third result."