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Forum nameMake The Music
Topic subject" Sample Clearance "
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=26&topic_id=30896&mesg_id=30991
30991, " Sample Clearance "
Posted by ruqbill, Sun Oct-07-07 08:54 PM


• Recreate the sample. Some artists have avoided paying part of the sampling clearance fee by re-recording the sampled section. You will still need to seek permission from the music publisher, but not from the owner of the master recording. How does this work? Let's say you want to use a six-second sample from "Green Onions." Instead of sampling the original recording, you play the parts yourself and re-record the music to sound exactly like the original. In that case you have not infringed the master recording. (Due to a quirk in copyright law, you can only infringe a master recording if you actually copy it -- not if you imitate it). You will not need to seek permission from the master owner, and you don't need to pay any fees to the master owner.



• Find sample-friendly copyright owners. Some copy­right owners are happy to clear samples -- so much so that they encour­age the process. For example, copyright owners of songs by the Average White Band and the Gap Band have pro-actively sought to promote their music for sampling. Tommy Boy Records has also made it easy to acquire clearances.

• Contact the artist or songwriter directly. If you run into problems with a music publisher or owner of a master, you may have better luck contacting the artist directly. This works if the artist still has some say or control in what gets cleared.
For example, Janet Jackson , for her song "Got 'Til It's Gone" (featuring Q-Tip ) , she had to call Jonie Mitchell For example, Shirley Manson of Garbage wanted to use the line, "You're the talk of the town," at the end of a song. Lawyers for the band ordered her to drop it, but Shirley called up Chrissie Hynde, who sent the following letter to Garbage's attorneys: "I, Chrissie Hynde, hereby allow the rock band Garbage to sample my songs, my words, and indeed my very ass."