Music Sampling and Copyright Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Music Sampling and Copyright Law - Essay Example No one took advantage of these technologies more effectively than Public Enemy, who put hundreds of sampled aural fragments into It Takes a Nation and stirred them up to create a new, radical sound that changed the way we hear music. But by 1991, no one paid zero for the records they sampled without getting sued. They had to pay a lot. (McLeod, #20). Digital audio sampling poses several interesting challenges to existing property laws and by looking at the specific case of rap music, a form that is in many ways based on the opportunities presented by sampling technology, these confrontations are highlighted. (Shumacher, 1995) Before one attempts to co-relate the concepts of Copyright Laws and Music Sampling, it would be prudent to understand each of the concepts in terms of their history and origin (based on need). Only then will a co-relation between the two concepts be more comprehensible. Copyright law was established in the Constitution to "promote science and the useful arts." In the age of digital formats for music, copyright law makes it illegal for "bootleggers" to commit audio piracy by copying works of music without paying the Here is a simple case in study of the intricacies related to US Copyright Laws. Shirley Dixon was thirteen years old in 1976, when she first played the Led Zeppelin song "Whole Lotta Love" for her father. Shirley had borrowed the 1960 album Led Zeppelin II from a friend because the hit song from it reminded her