Is sampling illegal

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A.� In a word, yes.�But there is a history of famous sampling incidents that prove that it's nothing like as simple as agreeing that sampling breaks the law.

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Q.� Why is sampling breaking the law

A.� Sampling means taking an audio extract and using it in another piece of work�- this usually means taking a piece of music from one song, and using it to enhance another, either by using it as a loop to build a new song, or as a musical effect. The legal aspect is easy to explain, but almost impossible to apply. If a sample is easy enough to spot and recognise, and that's usually the reason for 'borrowing' it in the first place, then it falls under the protection of copyright�- the legal ownership of the sample belonging to the copyright owner, usually, but not always, the original composer.

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Q.� Is it possible to sample legally

A.� It is�- you simply find out who owns the copyright on the piece of sound or music you want to sample, and ask their permission. If you obtain legal permission, which may involve payment�- more of that in a moment�- no problem, if not, you are breaking the law, and consequences can follow.

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Q.� What sort of consequences

A.� Legal ones usually! In 1991 a rapper called Biz Markie recorded Alone Again, sampling a section of Gilbert O'Sullivan's 1972 top three hit Alone Again Naturally, but without that vital ingredient that leads to hassle-free pop success�- permission. Before he could say Puff Daddy, Markie was in the High Court, being admonished by the judge for breaking The Seventh Commandment.

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Q.� Where did sampling begin

A.� The first obvious, and highly successful sample was coincidentally, the first successful rap record. With Rapper's Delight, The Sugar Hill Gang began a simultaneous pairing of rap and sampling that has continued ever since. Lifting the bass riff from Chic's disco classic Good Times, the three MCs found themselves with a monster hit single.

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Q.� So they sampled the bass line off the Chic record

A.� Actually no, back in 1982, the technology to lift a sample directly off a record wasn't around, so the Sugar Hill guys had their house band play the riff repeatedly, and built their record around that.

Q.� Any other well-known samples

A.� The most famous drum sample comes from a rather unlikely source�- Led Zeppelin's When The Levee Breaks on their fourth album provides possibly the heaviest drum riff ever played, and it has been sampled many many times since then. Everyone from The Beastie Boys to Sophie B Hawkins, who's pop hit Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover features a speeded up sample of the monster sound, have used John Bonham's earth-shattering drum riff to beef up their own hits.

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Everyone knows MC Hammer's top three smash U Can't Touch This, but rather fewer know that it's lifted wholesale from Motown bad boy Rick James's non-charting Superfreak, although James is given a writer's credit, and doubtless an appropriate share of the royalties.

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Queen and David Bowie's 1981 number one Under Pressure was used without permission to fashion Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby which hit the top spot nine years later. Rumours abound that Mr Ice settled out of court with the legal owners of his song's musical content.

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Q.� Does the sampling row come down to money

A.� Usually it does. Artists who are approached for use of their material are often happy to grant permission�- it keeps their work in the public eye, and a satisfactory royalty share can usually be negotiated. That does depend on who the copyright owner is�- in some cases, negotiation is simply not an option.

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Q.� Such as

A.� Remember The Verve being pilloried for allowing the instrumental section of their Bittersweet Symphony to be used in a television commercial for cars In fact the art rockers were entirely innocent of such tawdry practice.�The piece in question was borrowed by the band from an instrumental version of The Rolling Stones' The Last Time recorded by their original manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Copyright for the music belongs, along with a large chunk of early Stones material, to their later manager Alan Klein, who was happy to give his permission for the track to be used, and who picked up the royalties, both from the commercial, and from The Verve. Mr Klein is not known for over-use of the word 'negotiation'�- he took his usual 100% from both sources.

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Alan Klein is a vociferous defender of copyright laws.�As well as The Verve, George Michael was obliged to part with a section of royalties for his Waiting For That Day hit�- he used the Stones' lyric 'You can't always get what you want', and Janet Jackson raised a loud ker-ching for Mr Klein every time her What I Do song was played or sold anywhere�- using a line from Satisfaction -�'Hey hey hey, that's what I say' - meant a further cash injection for Mr Klein.

Q.� So the copyright owner always wins, for doing nothing except owning the material

A. Usually, but not always. Modern pop pundit Moby used a selection of samples from Alan Lomax's Sounds Of The South box set, including various blues musicians' vocals, set to Moby's more modern electronic backing. Having negotiated a one-off payment for use of the samples, Moby promptly licensed the entire collection for use in cinema and TV advertising, drawing a seven-figure sum in royalties over and above the normal album sales profits. Mr Lomax, having rescinded his rights, had no say in where his material was used, and took no further part in revenue receipts as a result of the popularity of his work.

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Q.� Is copyright law straightforward

A.� In Moby's case, he would probably say that it is�- pay a one-off fee, get the deal in writing and sell on, and on, and on, but the estate of Roy Orbison may give you an argument.

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In 1994 confrontational rappers 2 Live Crew decided to opt for the commercial end of the market by releasing a parallel album of their material, As Clean As They Wanna Be, which as the name suggests, includes 'clean' versions of their raps without recourse to the robust end of the oeuvre, which attracted wholesale censorship of the originals. Included as a basis for one item was a section of a Roy Orbison song, to which use was objected by the original publishers. Cue a court case, and the ironic judgment that use of music in a 'parody' did not in fact infringe copyright. Thousands of disaffected American youngsters are doubtless rapping away to Roy's boot-tapping sounds, happily oblivious to the musical origins of the sounds they are hearing. Unlike the lyrical subject matter, at least the use of sampled music was legal!

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By� Andy Hughes