Another good example is Stevie Wonder. He said to Collio that he will only clear the sample of Past Time Paradise if Collio doesnt use profanity. This is the reason why Gangsters Paradise has no Profanity. Also Aretha Franklyn. If you listen to School Spirit by Kanye West you can hear that all the swear words are reversed or removed. (Imma get on this TV Mama imma put ish down) Very intersting topic and great Video
Excellent video on this topic as always 💯 It’s not really true that a rigthsholder on Tracklib could (or so far ever has) pull the plug on a sample clearance because they don’t like/hate the new song. However our clearances do not cover songs that are mainly made for political purposes, and some other extreme use cases. So in cases where someone, for example, makes a song for a political party: our clearances (or any automated system) can’t cover that. This has yet to happen tho, with many many many licenses sold. This is also the case for anyone working with licensing/selling music, Epidemic Sound or Splice alike. It’s a right that cannot be separated/sold from a creator. What could happen is they might say “hey, I don’t like this Tracklib thing anymore, I don’t like these songs that are sampling my tracks” and they could leave the service. This would not nullify the already cleared samples, but it might mean they would not be available on Tracklib (for new producers wanting to sample it) any longer a month or two later down the line. I’d also love to add that whilst you are 10000% right about clearing samples for a beat/instrumental, and it having to be cleared again anyways for the "final" track, if you use Tracklib now: 1. Unlimited clearances can be included in your subscription (15 bucks a month), so you just need a couple minutes to clear the sample and that’s it 2. The buying party would very very much appreciate the sample being available to clear on Tracklib, which makes the clearance process very straightforward and easily doable So whilst clearing it twice is an enormous task generally, I’d say on Tracklib it’s def not
It actually pisses me off how there are so many people in an industry that stay clueless. You can ask questions, but I see some people fighting against the law because TH-cam allowed them to post a sampled track
How TF do producers NOT know that they need permission to interpolate a sample? Rock, metal & country bands/acts always need permission to release a cover of a song - the only time they don't need permission is during live performances (unless they record the live cover version and plan to make money from it.)
Preach. I had a rapper tell me the other day on r/makinghiphop "It's ok if I rip beats off TH-cam because it's not like these producers own the rights to the samples. They can't copyright strike something they don't own the rights to." This is where we're at. This is the level of tom foolery and bafoonary that we're working with today.
Excellent video ! this video should be shared and liked a million times over. This such a difficult topic to explain to musicians , people in general. I can just use this video now . Thank you.
Sample Clearance through the long route is tedious and headache forming. Years ago, I contacted Next Plateau Records and their publisher concerning a certain sample I wanted to use. The process came to a dead end because the dialog and relationship just couldn't be properly established. I asked all the right questions and spoke to all the right people but they just didn't want to do business with me. So, I ended up not using the sample or releasing an alternative version without the sample because the sample was the whole purpose. But now that Citizen DJ, Splice and Tracklib is a thing, I don't have to go through all that madness.
@@empiresoulmusic I come from the era of MPC60, S900/950, and SP12/1200. I sampled everything because I was DJ and not a musician. Too be honest, I didn't even know what music theory was, all I knew was, if it sounded good, and felt good, it was GOOD! Looking back after almost 40 years of producing hip hop, the biggest mistake I made was waiting to learn music theory, instrumentation, arrangement, and most importantly, how the records I used to sample were made, well past the halfway point of my career. Lessoned Learned!
Regardless of track lib, you're correct anyone involved with the original record can pull permission or use, provided they have vito rights on their own contract in the first place.
I work for an ad agency that does a lot of TV commercial shoots. We regularly use classic songs that are very iconic in our productions. If the rights clearance is outside our budget, we will work with a local producer to create an interpolated version because the clearance is often cheaper. With that said, the song/sample still has to be cleared, no question. This is even more important now that the lawyers who represent big music production companies are using AI tools to find uncleared samples and targeting the musicians who use them. now, is the worst timeline to try to skirt the system.
Speaking as an independent singer-songwriter and recording artist, I’ve found the easiest, most effective means of avoiding music-business legal troubles is to commit yourself to exclusively creating music no human being will ever willingly listen to
As a multi-platinum producer with over three decades in the business, I can attest to DJ Pain 1's statements - they're spot on! My own journey echoes this; sampling Quincy Jones and Prince on my first major release was a lesson in itself. Quincy asked for half of my producer royalties and publishing rights, and Prince didn't grant clearance at all. Take it from someone who's not just experienced this firsthand but has also taught the ins and outs at a collegiate level.
If someone steals your underlining composition, copyright it and clear it without the original creator permission, It’s called statutory or willful copyright infringement. Contributory infringement is when a second party knows didn’t directly infringe but benefits from it. Respondent superior means let the master answer “ Employer” take on the responsibility of knowing the infringement existed allowing the artist to infringe. The Record Label has to pay actual damages to the plaintiff, court cost, law fees and give up the rights of stolen music. Usually this is settled out of court. If it’s reaches the court the defendants may have to pay in full. Copyright infringement can land you in prison 5 to 10 years.
This situation (DJ Pain's example) Happened to Bad Boy records: DJ Premier and Jeru Da Damaga made a song for Angie Martinez' radio show called "Top Five At Nine" The song contains a sample of Public Enemies "Shut Em Down". Puffy heard the beat and asked Preem if he could give the beat to Biggie. Despite previous issues, Jeru said yes to giving the beat to Biggie. This song was then turned into the legendary "Ten Crack Commandments" However, One person who was extremely upset was Chuck D. Chuck was angry that his voice was now used in a song that teaches people how to sell drugs. he cleared the vocals to be used for a DJ segment, not a Gangsta Rap song. Fortunately, the situation was resolved without having to pull the record from the album.
Thanks for clearing that up, I asked Tracklib directly about this years ago, and they didnt seem to have the answer at that time, and said since they weren't sure, that both I and the artist that purchases the beat should clear it. That never seemed right to me, so Im glad to have some clarity on it now..Thank you!
Tracklib says in plain english that you must clear it as a final product, be that the beat or the actual song. They actually advertise that you have to clear them to even shop the beats.. I clear mine to shop them then let the artist know they have to clear it as well.
@@GriffinPoolethat’s a waste of money. If you’re selling beats on a store page then yeah. But if you’re sending beats to artist directly, and no money changes hands until you get the placement in the record, I wouldn’t even bother. Artist could pay you just like a session player.
@@joshualane1716 why would u send beats to an artist directly without money changin hands? if ur just startin out, ok... but how long are u gonna do that? u should be gettin paid once u kno what ur doin, and don't do anything for an artist who can't afford it... it costs money to this right, especially if the artist plans to release it...
Appreciate you! Thank you for breaking things down in a way we all can understand. If you’re not paying attention to this break down. Then I don’t know
Appreciate trying to set bright line rules. I think you are missing an important caveat on the clearance of the composition but still believe your overall result is correct. See Newton v. Diamond, 388 F.3d 1189 (9th Cir. 2003). Importantly, in that case the Beastie Boys cleared the copyright on the recording but did not clear the copyright on the composition. James Newton (the composer) sued the Beasties claiming that they violated his copyright on the composition. The Court ruled that "On the undisputed facts of this record, no reasonable juror could find the sampled portion of the composition to be a quantitatively or qualitatively significant portion of the composition as a whole. Quantitatively, the three-note sequence appears only once in Newton's composition. It is difficult to measure the precise relationship between this segment and the composition as a whole, because the score calls for between 180 and 270 seconds of improvisation. When played, however, the segment lasts six seconds and is roughly two percent of the four-and-a-half-minute "Choir" sound recording licensed by Beastie Boys. Qualitatively, this section of the composition is no more significant than any other section." In its conclusion, the Court said "Because Beastie Boys' use of the sound recording was authorized, the sole basis of Newton's infringement action is his remaining copyright interest in the "Choir" composition. We hold that Beastie Boys' use of a brief segment of that composition, consisting of three notes separated by a half-step over a background C note, is not sufficient to sustain a claim for infringement of Newton's copyright in the composition "Choir"." So, the good news is, the Beasties won the lawsuit on the basis that their use of Newton's composition was not quantitatively or qualitatively significant enough to constitute infringement. In other words, there is no bright line rule when it comes to sampling the composition. The Court ruled that the Beastie's use was insignificant enough that there was no liability. The bad news is that they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars defending the lawsuit. The other bad news is that every case is going to get decided on its facts, so you can't really rely on Newton v. Diamond to determine that you are "safe". The takeaway is that you're playing with fire by not clearing.
This is the shit I’m talking about. One case with one judge doesn’t define anything and some new producer is going to read this comment and think, ‘cool, I don’t have to clear a replay.’ Just because some legendary and incredibly wealthy major act spent tens of thousands of dollars on a defense in court and won doesn’t change anything I say in this video. ‘If you replay a sample, you need to clear it.’ I’m not hiding from this statement.
@@DJPain1 I think you might be misreading what I said. What I said was that even though they won they still got SUED and spent HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on legal fees. AND, there is no guarantee a different case would turn out the same. If some new producer reads that and thinks "cool, I don't have to clear a replay" then I can't help that person.
Even if you do something *actually* transformative it's probably a bad idea to not clear the composition, unless you really want to try taking it to court.
Would love to hear an example behind a sample being successfully cleared for a hit song and what it took . I wonder how successful a song has to be in order for making all this money and process worth the trouble
My world is more in electronic music, I'm primarily making jersey club tracks as well as some electro house music. My jersey bootlegs sample heavily while my original tracks may only ever, at most, sample the Lyn Collins "Think (About It)" drum break that's ubiquitous among club music as a whole. I'm currently working on a full length album that takes inspiration from Justice's debut album, _Cross_, but i'm thinking of not sampling at all and just recording my own instrumentation and whatnot. Even Xavier from Justice said he doesn't think an album like that could be released today due to the heavy microsampling they did throughout the record. So many of those samples would have to be cleared, lots of money to be spent on that alone. 2007 was a different time where they could get away with more of that (in electronic music, at least)
holy crap man i knew i recognized that producer name from somewhere you made that dope joint with royce da 5'9" trust the shooter! amazing work man keep it up and great video!
If you sample or record anything on February 29th you don't need to get clearance because it's leap day and contracts and copyright law don't apply unless explicitly written into the agreement! You're welcome! 😅
i sometimes do productions but as nearly no one is listening or watching i just go ahead and do whatever i want .I am never going to have a huge hit or a tune that goes viral so i will just fck around and no one will notice.The worst that ever happens is that youtube get upset ..a bit.As i am a nobody its not for ever and im right back to what ever it i am doing but not to worry i have no top forty ambitions
This is why I am perfectly fine with not being a producer. This is also why I take my hat off to them because that's a lot of hard work and stress to endure, especially if you don't know what you're doing.
Sampling is a great Art Form but I think its over. Especially with A.I. Sample snitches are everywhere now. They sit all day long on their computer and use A.I. to discover samples on tracks.
Knowing the ins and outs of all this is simply the price one pays for trying to earn a living whilst leaning on the material of those that came before you. These laws are 30+ years old.... It's nothing new and let's face; it one can always choose to write and produce sample-free music instead...... Just depends how strong their creative urges are, I guess.
the same technology being used to alter samples in an attempt to "get over" is the same technology being used to uncover altered samples lol. Better to just pay the money which is basically equivalent to what one might pay for high end equipment to make the song using the sample in question as opposed to taking a chance and getting sued which will cost you even more money.
I wouldn't worry about it unless your song starts trending. If it starts trending pull the song off the internet and then try to get sample clearance. Unfortunately the technology is getting where you won't even be able to upload a trash song without the sample being recognized.
@@DJPain1 the technology is there and probably open source waiting for someone to create the service for labels to find their copyrighted material in other people's music. The service may not exist yet so keep sampling kiddies and don't worry about the law. Young people's music is supposed to be rebellious anyway.
@YoungNarcissixt I’m not sure how you’re disagreeing with how lazy I am, and I didn’t mention anything about Hiphop. Was this comment for me or did you reply to the wrong person maybe?
DJ Pain you could give a play-by-play step on how the music game works And people still won't get it. You should offer a master class for people who don't get it.
The people who don’t get it are separated into two categories: People who want to learn and people who are stupid and proud to be stupid. The latter will never buy a course because they feel they already know it all.
Regarding the Donna Summer track even with the master recording it might no longer be owned by Atlantic, older song's contracts terms may have expired and the master rights have been reclaimed by the artists (or estate) or sold on to another entity. You gotta get your detective on and investigate where it's all gone, that's on you.
If the amount of money you plan to make from a song is less than what the artist is willing to pay for a lawyer and you don't live in the same country as the artist you are sampling, then just forget the rules and sample it and let them come find you. Most times, they won't come after you until you sell 50-100 k copies.
I just had a copyright claim launched against me by UMG. I believe this 💯 The owner let me keep the beat but I decided to remove it. I would have been fucked if this beat made millions. But…my beat had only 6 views…i am not popular but was dope as fuck the last 20 years!!!
Very informative and concise, thank you for the excellent information. I do have a question regarding replays/interpolations in one particular song. "I Got A Story To Tell" by Biggie was denied sample clearance multiple times by the original artist Andreas Vollenweider according to Buckwild (who produced the original track containing the sample). As a result, the song almost didn't make the "Life After Death" album until Chucky Thompson replayed the sample. However, if you read the liner notes, the track that was interpolated is not credited. In this case, should they still have cleared the composition?
Maybe I'm not understanding fully, but from what I got from the video is that for producers, if you do sample, continue to do so without having to worry about sample clearance because at the end of the day, the artist is the one that has to deal with that. I love sampling, and I will continue to do so until it's brought to my attention.
@@DJPain1 No worries Pain! I understand. To me, I was “reading between the lines”, if you know what I mean. lol Thank you for taking the time to interact with us. It means a lot, and I really appreciate it.
Easiest solution is to actually do the work and learn music. It will reduce the value of the record labels power and you will create something of your own. Win win!
People want stuff for free. I grew up during a period in music where sampling didn't exist. You had to know how to play an instrument or use studio musicians.
I am currently negotiating with Future and Metro Boomin use of Rodney O track Everlasting Bass. As well filed the recent infringement lawsuit against Who TF is Up my trap for failure to obtain mechanical license and failure to resolve split dispute. YES two sides must be cleared only Publishing needs to be cleared for interpolation. MASTER owner usually is the label or can be the artists like in my case. The publishers are the ones that approve the composition and represent the writers so you get approval from them. Depending if the publishers have a non exclusive or exclusive agreement depends if you need all of their approval. Also when you make the deal and end in a split dispute on the composition side that doesn't add up to a 100% make sure you resolve it 30 days after the release. If you don't the sample owner can terminate the composition mechanical licenses agreement which in turns makes the it infringement to reproduce distribute on streaming sites. Hope that helps
Pain, could you share a line about your overall experience making the Enter Sandman Remix beat for Jarren Benton? Absolute epic banger of a piece, I know it was just a remix but was there anything you had to do to make sure it didn't get copyright claimed??
Ken has stated he recreated the guitar part from all falls down since Lauryn wouldn't clear it. It was a remote session of I remember correctly. He has examples of a few things on his channel from that album
Thank you for everything you do for producers. If I sample someone's laughing in a video, do I have to reach out to the individual that recorded the snapchat video?
Here's a conundrum for you. I made a track in 99 that contains a small melodic sample that I snipped off a CD I had, but I cannot remember what it was from or find the original. I've tried everything I can think of to find out where I got it from, but no luck. How the hell do I climb out of that rabbit hole?
Ken Lewis recreated samples on College Dropout. Kanye would send him the beat and Ken would work on it from his own studio. I remember reading an interview where he talked about it maybe a year after the album dropped.
@@DJPain1 I just checked all the songs on Spotify and he’s credited on Last Call, which is the specific song I remember him talking about in the interview, so maybe that was the only one.
The number of lawsuits from music owners suing producers of AI music will blow up in the next few years, that legislation will be passed to mitigate it.
Always super informative! Question, so for me an upcoming producer who samples what woud You say is the best place to get samples? Because I feel like every time I go to make music I’m Stuck thinking dam how can I release this will It get taken down etc.
Benn Jordan talked a while back about a good (IMO) idea to fix our broken copyright system whereby rights holders across all media types could be paid by federal taxes, collected using an income-based sliding scale - thus all media would be in the public domain and freely usable by anyone. Best part: since everyone is paying in, the costs for the top income bracket are less than the average person spends streaming tv per year.
If you’re an artist with like 10 monthly listeners and your new song has a sample. At what point should you start taking the steps to clear it? 1,000 streams? 10,000 streams?
You should at that point focus more on keeping the distributors from yanking your tracks tbh. Because if you get enough strikes you have to start all over from nothing
Question. Does interpolation only apply to melodies? Drum patterns, beats, rhythms, progressions get recycled regularly. How does this differ from making music within a given genre. There appears to be a double standard, thoughts?
Hey man, I teach piano and I often open my videos up with advanced chord progressions. An artist interpolated my chord progression from TH-cam without permission, is this something I can pursue? 🤷🏾♂️
Samples are nothing but notes that create sound waves… no one can own a note(s)Who cares, I’m still going to sample… 😂 Damn gatekeepers… sue me for what, a change in air pressure?😂
A painting is just some paint on a canvas, so who cares if I make the same picture and then say it's mine..... You'll care when it's your sample being used and you're losing millions. This mindset, is the sort you have when you feel no one's gonna hear your stuff.
Monetize your beats on all platforms for FREE. Use the promo code “ATODDS” at www.toolost.com
"At some point your gonna get a big record" Ma bro speaking it into existence 🙏🏻 🔥
You already know
He be believing in you before you believe in you
Favorite part of the video honestly
Another good example is Stevie Wonder. He said to Collio that he will only clear the sample of Past Time Paradise if Collio doesnt use profanity. This is the reason why Gangsters Paradise has no Profanity.
Also Aretha Franklyn. If you listen to School Spirit by Kanye West you can hear that all the swear words are reversed or removed. (Imma get on this TV Mama imma put ish down)
Very intersting topic and great Video
Great examples
Stevie Wonder is a bad mother fucker, when he says there'll be no fucking profanity, you best be-fucking-lieve there'll be no fucking profanity.
But then he gave Weird Al permission to do a parody & then got mad at him for doing the parody that he gave him permission to do 😂😂😂
Excellent video on this topic as always 💯
It’s not really true that a rigthsholder on Tracklib could (or so far ever has) pull the plug on a sample clearance because they don’t like/hate the new song. However our clearances do not cover songs that are mainly made for political purposes, and some other extreme use cases. So in cases where someone, for example, makes a song for a political party: our clearances (or any automated system) can’t cover that. This has yet to happen tho, with many many many licenses sold. This is also the case for anyone working with licensing/selling music, Epidemic Sound or Splice alike. It’s a right that cannot be separated/sold from a creator.
What could happen is they might say “hey, I don’t like this Tracklib thing anymore, I don’t like these songs that are sampling my tracks” and they could leave the service. This would not nullify the already cleared samples, but it might mean they would not be available on Tracklib (for new producers wanting to sample it) any longer a month or two later down the line.
I’d also love to add that whilst you are 10000% right about clearing samples for a beat/instrumental, and it having to be cleared again anyways for the "final" track, if you use Tracklib now:
1. Unlimited clearances can be included in your subscription (15 bucks a month), so you just need a couple minutes to clear the sample and that’s it
2. The buying party would very very much appreciate the sample being available to clear on Tracklib, which makes the clearance process very straightforward and easily doable
So whilst clearing it twice is an enormous task generally, I’d say on Tracklib it’s def not
Thank you for clarifying 🙏🏽
Thus why samples are cleared for the final song with the lyrics not just the beat.
It actually pisses me off how there are so many people in an industry that stay clueless. You can ask questions, but I see some people fighting against the law because TH-cam allowed them to post a sampled track
People who don’t know what they’re talking about generally make statements rather than ask questions
😂 this is acc accurate @@DJPain1
This is the most comprehensive yet straightforward breakdown of this complex topic. Thanks Pain 👍🏿
Glad it was helpful!
How TF do producers NOT know that they need permission to interpolate a sample?
Rock, metal & country bands/acts always need permission to release a cover of a song - the only time they don't need permission is during live performances (unless they record the live cover version and plan to make money from it.)
Right! You might be able to get away with it on YT but you can't release any cover without a license!
Preach. I had a rapper tell me the other day on r/makinghiphop "It's ok if I rip beats off TH-cam because it's not like these producers own the rights to the samples. They can't copyright strike something they don't own the rights to."
This is where we're at. This is the level of tom foolery and bafoonary that we're working with today.
People are morons and proud of it
r/makinghiphop has a lot of dumbasses tbh.
FYI the cover songs law changed not that long ago, if you want to release anything you need both permission and a mechanical licence.
Excellent video ! this video should be shared and liked a million times over. This such a difficult topic to explain to musicians , people in general. I can just use this video now . Thank you.
Wow, thank you!
Sample Clearance through the long route is tedious and headache forming. Years ago, I contacted Next Plateau Records and their publisher concerning a certain sample I wanted to use. The process came to a dead end because the dialog and relationship just couldn't be properly established. I asked all the right questions and spoke to all the right people but they just didn't want to do business with me. So, I ended up not using the sample or releasing an alternative version without the sample because the sample was the whole purpose. But now that Citizen DJ, Splice and Tracklib is a thing, I don't have to go through all that madness.
It probably wasn’t, and I don’t mean this disrespectfully, worth their time.
@@DJPain1 Maybe or maybe not but for what it's worth: it actually benefited me not to deal with them type folks period.
I just stopped using samples, or, if I use samples it’s my own work, resampled to get that sample feel 😛
That is a smart move. With a little bit of time and creativity, you can make something as dope as something you would sample.
@@sahpreemking1163 Exactly!
@@empiresoulmusic I come from the era of MPC60, S900/950, and SP12/1200. I sampled everything because I was DJ and not a musician. Too be honest, I didn't even know what music theory was, all I knew was, if it sounded good, and felt good, it was GOOD! Looking back after almost 40 years of producing hip hop, the biggest mistake I made was waiting to learn music theory, instrumentation, arrangement, and most importantly, how the records I used to sample were made, well past the halfway point of my career. Lessoned Learned!
@@sahpreemking1163 better late than never, right? And it’s so much fun!
Regardless of track lib, you're correct anyone involved with the original record can pull permission or use, provided they have vito rights on their own contract in the first place.
You mean "veto" but otherwise you are correct
I work for an ad agency that does a lot of TV commercial shoots. We regularly use classic songs that are very iconic in our productions. If the rights clearance is outside our budget, we will work with a local producer to create an interpolated version because the clearance is often cheaper. With that said, the song/sample still has to be cleared, no question. This is even more important now that the lawyers who represent big music production companies are using AI tools to find uncleared samples and targeting the musicians who use them. now, is the worst timeline to try to skirt the system.
Thanks for helping spread the facts. So many get this mixed up, especially in the hip-hop community.
No problem, thank you for watching
Pain dropping gems constantly
Thank you for watching
Speaking as an independent singer-songwriter and recording artist, I’ve found the easiest, most effective means of avoiding music-business legal troubles is to commit yourself to exclusively creating music no human being will ever willingly listen to
As a multi-platinum producer with over three decades in the business, I can attest to DJ Pain 1's statements - they're spot on! My own journey echoes this; sampling Quincy Jones and Prince on my first major release was a lesson in itself. Quincy asked for half of my producer royalties and publishing rights, and Prince didn't grant clearance at all. Take it from someone who's not just experienced this firsthand but has also taught the ins and outs at a collegiate level.
I wish all the people I sampled were as generous as Quincy tbh
Once again you're doing the heavy lifting for us! Keep it comming brother!
Will do!
Thank you for continuing to provide helpful information! ❤🙏
Any time!
If I had pain on my team my chances of success would be higher than where I’m at currently
I am on your team
If someone steals your underlining composition, copyright it and clear it without the original creator permission, It’s called statutory or willful copyright infringement. Contributory infringement is when a second party knows didn’t directly infringe but benefits from it. Respondent superior means let the master answer “ Employer” take on the responsibility of knowing the infringement existed allowing the artist to infringe. The Record Label has to pay actual damages to the plaintiff, court cost, law fees and give up the rights of stolen music. Usually this is settled out of court. If it’s reaches the court the defendants may have to pay in full. Copyright infringement can land you in prison 5 to 10 years.
Lol, the way I flip and chop the sample, no one will ever know what it originally was.
Always giving great information!!
Too many folks out there do not even want to pay for music period. But these search algorithms are way too good now. They will find you.
This situation (DJ Pain's example) Happened to Bad Boy records:
DJ Premier and Jeru Da Damaga made a song for Angie Martinez' radio show called "Top Five At Nine" The song contains a sample of Public Enemies "Shut Em Down". Puffy heard the beat and asked Preem if he could give the beat to Biggie. Despite previous issues, Jeru said yes to giving the beat to Biggie. This song was then turned into the legendary "Ten Crack Commandments"
However, One person who was extremely upset was Chuck D. Chuck was angry that his voice was now used in a song that teaches people how to sell drugs. he cleared the vocals to be used for a DJ segment, not a Gangsta Rap song. Fortunately, the situation was resolved without having to pull the record from the album.
Ok, man, THANK U for this! VERY helpful & gave me somewhere to start from - IF I ever decide to sample something
🤝🏾✊🏾
Thanks for clearing that up, I asked Tracklib directly about this years ago, and they didnt seem to have the answer at that time, and said since they weren't sure, that both I and the artist that purchases the beat should clear it. That never seemed right to me, so Im glad to have some clarity on it now..Thank you!
This madness is why I almost exclusively use royalty free clips, or I don't bother trying to distribute a track with samples I haven't had cleared
Was always curious about this topic. Thanks for the clarification pain!
Tracklib says in plain english that you must clear it as a final product, be that the beat or the actual song. They actually advertise that you have to clear them to even shop the beats.. I clear mine to shop them then let the artist know they have to clear it as well.
word, that's exactly how it should be done...
@@GriffinPoolethat’s a waste of money. If you’re selling beats on a store page then yeah. But if you’re sending beats to artist directly, and no money changes hands until you get the placement in the record, I wouldn’t even bother. Artist could pay you just like a session player.
@@joshualane1716 why would u send beats to an artist directly without money changin hands? if ur just startin out, ok... but how long are u gonna do that? u should be gettin paid once u kno what ur doin, and don't do anything for an artist who can't afford it... it costs money to this right, especially if the artist plans to release it...
Then Splice is better
Love and shared this video! Trying to keep my audio friends from getting sued.
Thank you i
Appreciate you! Thank you for breaking things down in a way we all can understand. If you’re not paying attention to this break down. Then I don’t know
Appreciate trying to set bright line rules. I think you are missing an important caveat on the clearance of the composition but still believe your overall result is correct.
See Newton v. Diamond, 388 F.3d 1189 (9th Cir. 2003). Importantly, in that case the Beastie Boys cleared the copyright on the recording but did not clear the copyright on the composition. James Newton (the composer) sued the Beasties claiming that they violated his copyright on the composition. The Court ruled that "On the undisputed facts of this record, no reasonable juror could find the sampled portion of the composition to be a quantitatively or qualitatively significant portion of the composition as a whole. Quantitatively, the three-note sequence appears only once in Newton's composition. It is difficult to measure the precise relationship between this segment and the composition as a whole, because the score calls for between 180 and 270 seconds of improvisation. When played, however, the segment lasts six seconds and is roughly two percent of the four-and-a-half-minute "Choir" sound recording licensed by Beastie Boys. Qualitatively, this section of the composition is no more significant than any other section."
In its conclusion, the Court said "Because Beastie Boys' use of the sound recording was authorized, the sole basis of Newton's infringement action is his remaining copyright interest in the "Choir" composition. We hold that Beastie Boys' use of a brief segment of that composition, consisting of three notes separated by a half-step over a background C note, is not sufficient to sustain a claim for infringement of Newton's copyright in the composition "Choir"."
So, the good news is, the Beasties won the lawsuit on the basis that their use of Newton's composition was not quantitatively or qualitatively significant enough to constitute infringement. In other words, there is no bright line rule when it comes to sampling the composition. The Court ruled that the Beastie's use was insignificant enough that there was no liability. The bad news is that they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars defending the lawsuit. The other bad news is that every case is going to get decided on its facts, so you can't really rely on Newton v. Diamond to determine that you are "safe". The takeaway is that you're playing with fire by not clearing.
This is the shit I’m talking about. One case with one judge doesn’t define anything and some new producer is going to read this comment and think, ‘cool, I don’t have to clear a replay.’ Just because some legendary and incredibly wealthy major act spent tens of thousands of dollars on a defense in court and won doesn’t change anything I say in this video. ‘If you replay a sample, you need to clear it.’ I’m not hiding from this statement.
@@DJPain1 I think you might be misreading what I said. What I said was that even though they won they still got SUED and spent HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on legal fees. AND, there is no guarantee a different case would turn out the same. If some new producer reads that and thinks "cool, I don't have to clear a replay" then I can't help that person.
@@JamBurglar You _could_ help that person by putting the "bad news" and the "takeaway" into separate paragraphs.
@@crnkmnky Haha! 100%. And maybe not put it at the end of a super-long thesis in a TH-cam comment 😂
Appreciate The WISDOM, Ish Only Comes From Putting In The Work ... Peace.
Just wanted to say thank you for all the great educational content you provide. Much respect. Many thanks my brother. 🙏🏾
Even if you do something *actually* transformative it's probably a bad idea to not clear the composition, unless you really want to try taking it to court.
Great educational drop here!!
Thanks for watching 🙏🏽
You da man, DJ PAIN! I'm a producer from Pittsburgh, PA. Thanks for all the good info you put out!
Thank you for watching 🙏🏽
dont ever stop posting these vids bro
I’m losing my patience ngl
Would love to hear an example behind a sample being successfully cleared for a hit song and what it took . I wonder how successful a song has to be in order for making all this money and process worth the trouble
You’re 100% correct on everything you said in this entire video ! Great way to break it down for those who don’t understand copyright law.
🙏🏽
My world is more in electronic music, I'm primarily making jersey club tracks as well as some electro house music. My jersey bootlegs sample heavily while my original tracks may only ever, at most, sample the Lyn Collins "Think (About It)" drum break that's ubiquitous among club music as a whole.
I'm currently working on a full length album that takes inspiration from Justice's debut album, _Cross_, but i'm thinking of not sampling at all and just recording my own instrumentation and whatnot. Even Xavier from Justice said he doesn't think an album like that could be released today due to the heavy microsampling they did throughout the record.
So many of those samples would have to be cleared, lots of money to be spent on that alone. 2007 was a different time where they could get away with more of that (in electronic music, at least)
holy crap man i knew i recognized that producer name from somewhere you made that dope joint with royce da 5'9" trust the shooter! amazing work man keep it up and great video!
If you sample or record anything on February 29th you don't need to get clearance because it's leap day and contracts and copyright law don't apply unless explicitly written into the agreement! You're welcome! 😅
Somebody is gonna spread this as a fact on Reddit
i sometimes do productions but as nearly no one is listening or watching i just go ahead and do whatever i want .I am never going to have a huge hit or a tune that goes viral so i will just fck around and no one will notice.The worst that ever happens is that youtube get upset ..a bit.As i am a nobody its not for ever and im right back to what ever it i am doing but not to worry i have no top forty ambitions
Don’t be so fatalistic man
Compose your own original music or stick to free sample libraries and public domain music for your samples
Or learn about sampling procedures, IP law, the music business in general, and stop fearing information 🧠
@@DJPain1 When one has the time and resources for all that, sure. As you're learning, the creative commons license is your friend. Awesome video.
This is why I am perfectly fine with not being a producer. This is also why I take my hat off to them because that's a lot of hard work and stress to endure, especially if you don't know what you're doing.
Sampling is a great Art Form but I think its over. Especially with A.I. Sample snitches are everywhere now. They sit all day long on their computer and use A.I. to discover samples on tracks.
Knowing the ins and outs of all this is simply the price one pays for trying to earn a living whilst leaning on the material of those that came before you. These laws are 30+ years old.... It's nothing new and let's face; it one can always choose to write and produce sample-free music instead...... Just depends how strong their creative urges are, I guess.
I don’t need to tell you this, but this was exceedingly well explained. Bravo.
Thank you
I ❤ not clearing samples. Too slick 😎
Brilliant video, thought I knew most of the ins and outs, I wasn’t even close
Thank you for watching
the same technology being used to alter samples in an attempt to "get over" is the same technology being used to uncover altered samples lol. Better to just pay the money which is basically equivalent to what one might pay for high end equipment to make the song using the sample in question as opposed to taking a chance and getting sued which will cost you even more money.
I wouldn't worry about it unless your song starts trending. If it starts trending pull the song off the internet and then try to get sample clearance. Unfortunately the technology is getting where you won't even be able to upload a trash song without the sample being recognized.
You contradicted yourself 🤷🏽
@@DJPain1 explain
@@DJPain1 the technology is there and probably open source waiting for someone to create the service for labels to find their copyrighted material in other people's music. The service may not exist yet so keep sampling kiddies and don't worry about the law. Young people's music is supposed to be rebellious anyway.
I’m too lazy to use samples.
@YoungNarcissixt I’m not sure how you’re disagreeing with how lazy I am, and I didn’t mention anything about Hiphop. Was this comment for me or did you reply to the wrong person maybe?
@YoungNarcissixt no problem brother 😊
Same 😂
Man I bought a record player to sample from vinyl but I don't even sample anymore because of my laziness 😂
@@paavoilves5416 it’s fun man come on
Jaylib’s The Red is a great example of this too, the sample was cleared until the original artist heard Madlibs lyrics in the track
Thank you. Very helpful and informative. Cleared up a lot and dispelled a lot of false info out there
DJ Pain you could give a play-by-play step on how the music game works And people still won't get it. You should offer a master class for people who don't get it.
The people who don’t get it are separated into two categories: People who want to learn and people who are stupid and proud to be stupid. The latter will never buy a course because they feel they already know it all.
Regarding the Donna Summer track even with the master recording it might no longer be owned by Atlantic, older song's contracts terms may have expired and the master rights have been reclaimed by the artists (or estate) or sold on to another entity. You gotta get your detective on and investigate where it's all gone, that's on you.
Doubt it. Master reversion is rare today and unheard of back then, especially when it comes to black artists
@@DJPain1 Definitely rarer today. Seeing so many kids sign without knowing what "Term: perpetuity" means 🤦🤦
If the amount of money you plan to make from a song is less than what the artist
is willing to pay for a lawyer and you don't live in the same country as the artist
you are sampling, then just forget the rules and sample it and let them come find
you. Most times, they won't come after you until you sell 50-100 k copies.
So intentionally exploit impoverished artists, got it
I just had a copyright claim launched against me by UMG. I believe this 💯 The owner let me keep the beat but I decided to remove it. I would have been fucked if this beat made millions.
But…my beat had only 6 views…i am not popular but was dope as fuck the last 20 years!!!
This was so informative. Thank you.
Appreciate that
Very informative and concise, thank you for the excellent information. I do have a question regarding replays/interpolations in one particular song. "I Got A Story To Tell" by Biggie was denied sample clearance multiple times by the original artist Andreas Vollenweider according to Buckwild (who produced the original track containing the sample). As a result, the song almost didn't make the "Life After Death" album until Chucky Thompson replayed the sample. However, if you read the liner notes, the track that was interpolated is not credited. In this case, should they still have cleared the composition?
Liner notes don’t always tell the full story
Based on what you’ve observed throughout your career, what’s the most common reason an entity would deny clearance of a sample?
Sample clearing is such a bureaucratic scam
I hate how convoluted it is
That was broken down perfectly. Thank you Pain.
Thank you
Thank you very much breaking that down
Maybe I'm not understanding fully, but from what I got from the video is that for producers, if you do sample, continue to do so without having to worry about sample clearance because at the end of the day, the artist is the one that has to deal with that. I love sampling, and I will continue to do so until it's brought to my attention.
I’m not giving legal advice; just telling you how clearance works.
@@DJPain1 No worries Pain! I understand. To me, I was “reading between the lines”, if you know what I mean. lol Thank you for taking the time to interact with us. It means a lot, and I really appreciate it.
Hey, when I make enough money with my beats to actually pay for anything, I'll clear my samples lol
If you write your own rhythms, harmony's and melodies you can eliminate this headache and be a more creative talented artist
Yeh for sure, until someone from the Marvin Gaye estate comes along lol
Easiest solution is to actually do the work and learn music. It will reduce the value of the record labels power and you will create something of your own. Win win!
People want stuff for free. I grew up during a period in music where sampling didn't exist. You had to know how to play an instrument or use studio musicians.
The first sampler came out in the late 60s and was cost-prohibitive.
So even if i ninja the hell out of a record it still needs clearance ?
Do whatever you want man. I made the video, my job is done.
Great info thanks my brother
I am currently negotiating with Future and Metro Boomin use of Rodney O track Everlasting Bass. As well filed the recent infringement lawsuit against Who TF is Up my trap for failure to obtain mechanical license and failure to resolve split dispute.
YES two sides must be cleared only Publishing needs to be cleared for interpolation. MASTER owner usually is the label or can be the artists like in my case. The publishers are the ones that approve the composition and represent the writers so you get approval from them. Depending if the publishers have a non exclusive or exclusive agreement depends if you need all of their approval. Also when you make the deal and end in a split dispute on the composition side that doesn't add up to a 100% make sure you resolve it 30 days after the release. If you don't the sample owner can terminate the composition mechanical licenses agreement which in turns makes the it infringement to reproduce distribute on streaming sites. Hope that helps
Pain, could you share a line about your overall experience making the Enter Sandman Remix beat for Jarren Benton? Absolute epic banger of a piece, I know it was just a remix but was there anything you had to do to make sure it didn't get copyright claimed??
It was a replay, not sure what his label did
Ken has stated he recreated the guitar part from all falls down since Lauryn wouldn't clear it. It was a remote session of I remember correctly. He has examples of a few things on his channel from that album
I thought you were gonna talk about Bob 😂
Thank you for everything you do for producers. If I sample someone's laughing in a video, do I have to reach out to the individual that recorded the snapchat video?
Here's a conundrum for you. I made a track in 99 that contains a small melodic sample that I snipped off a CD I had, but I cannot remember what it was from or find the original.
I've tried everything I can think of to find out where I got it from, but no luck.
How the hell do I climb out of that rabbit hole?
One can only imagine..
Well said! Liked and subscribed
The ROI for clearing samples is just not really within our best interests as producers. I’d rather collaborate with sample/loop creators 🫡
That too
Ken Lewis recreated samples on College Dropout. Kanye would send him the beat and Ken would work on it from his own studio. I remember reading an interview where he talked about it maybe a year after the album dropped.
Which ones?
@@DJPain1 I just checked all the songs on Spotify and he’s credited on Last Call, which is the specific song I remember him talking about in the interview, so maybe that was the only one.
@@DJPain1 Or maybe he recreated more, but that was the only one that was used or was cleared.
Important info. Great video, mate
Glad you think so!
This was helpful, thank you.
Happy to help!
Just started the follow you my G. Appreciate all the legit info
Thank you for the sub!
information is power! u been told!
Ken actually did a ton of stuff on college dropout. Even some of the ‘female’ vocals 😂
Noted thanks pain🤜🏾🤛🏾
No problem 👍
Appreciate the info. 💯🙏🏾
Thank you 🙏🏽
The number of lawsuits from music owners suing producers of AI music will blow up in the next few years, that legislation will be passed to mitigate it.
Time will tell, but it’s gonna be messy
Personally I don’t use many samples, I use soundbites from copyright free works because my genre is soundbite heavy 😛
Always super informative! Question, so for me an upcoming producer who samples what woud
You say is the best place to get samples? Because I feel like every time I go to make music I’m
Stuck thinking dam how can I release this will It get taken down etc.
dope!,, thorough & truthful take-,,appreciated
Glad it was helpful!
Benn Jordan talked a while back about a good (IMO) idea to fix our broken copyright system whereby rights holders across all media types could be paid by federal taxes, collected using an income-based sliding scale - thus all media would be in the public domain and freely usable by anyone.
Best part: since everyone is paying in, the costs for the top income bracket are less than the average person spends streaming tv per year.
If you’re an artist with like 10 monthly listeners and your new song has a sample. At what point should you start taking the steps to clear it? 1,000 streams? 10,000 streams?
Probably a million or maybe more
You should at that point focus more on keeping the distributors from yanking your tracks tbh. Because if you get enough strikes you have to start all over from nothing
So I can’t use beat samples I get online for free without clearing it?
Question. Does interpolation only apply to melodies? Drum patterns, beats, rhythms, progressions get recycled regularly. How does this differ from making music within a given genre. There appears to be a double standard, thoughts?
Hey man, I teach piano and I often open my videos up with advanced chord progressions.
An artist interpolated my chord progression from TH-cam without permission, is this something I can pursue? 🤷🏾♂️
I’m not a lawyer unfortunately
Oh boohoo. You don't own chord progressions lol
Samples are nothing but notes that create sound waves… no one can own a note(s)Who cares, I’m still going to sample… 😂 Damn gatekeepers… sue me for what, a change in air pressure?😂
would not hold up in court
A painting is just some paint on a canvas, so who cares if I make the same picture and then say it's mine..... You'll care when it's your sample being used and you're losing millions. This mindset, is the sort you have when you feel no one's gonna hear your stuff.