To Borrow, Beg or Steal: A Perspective on Sampling in Musical Works
![handle is hein.journals/entspdetc2 and id is 43 raw text is: TO BORROW, BEG OR STEAL:
A PERSPECTIVE ON SAMPLING
IN MUSICAL WORKS
Barbara J. Kennedy
Music experts estimate that nearly every song in the Top 40
contains instances of sampling. Sampling is the practice of using
a portion of a previous sound recording in a new recording.! The
practice is now so pervasive that it is considered indispensable in the
music industry.2 The emergence of sampling has opened a pandora's
box of old and new sound combinations and legal problems.
I. To Borrow: The Historic View
Each new musical era has paid homage to its predecessor by
quoting the previous era's musical stylings in its own music. It is
natural that even great composers3 take ideas and inspiration from
their colleagues. During the English Renaissance, it was believed
that originality of real worth [could] ... be achieved only through
creative imitation.'4 Classical writers saw the work of predecessors
as a common fund. Only when it's use was uninventive or superficial
would one be taken to task.
The sampling process is a fairly recent phenomenon, with its
roots in the dub5 technique used by disc jockeys to mix different
sounds together. Actual samples or portions of finished recordings
are interplayed into new records and marketed as new original
recordings.6 The courts thus far believe that true sampling without
permission is tantamount to stealing. Some scholars and many artists
view sampling as an art form no more plagiaristic than any other.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/entspdetc2&div=7&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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To Borrow, Beg or Steal: A Perspective on Sampling in Musical Works
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