Music Sampling and Copyright Law: What’s Legal?

With the growing popularity of hip-hop music and remix culture, sampling has become common practice among a wide variety of artists and producers looking to associate with those who have come before them. Sampling is the act of integrating sounds embodied in a pre-existing sound recording into a new musical work. As a matter of copyright law, when an artist “samples” another artist’s music, they must receive permission from the copyright owner of the sampled…