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25 Trinity C.L. Rev. 168 (2022)
Music Sampling and Copyright: Are the Courts Hung up on Restricting Creativity?

handle is hein.journals/trinclr25 and id is 176 raw text is: Trinity College Law Review MUSIC SAMPLING AND COPYRIGHT: ARE THE COURTS HUNG UP ON RESTRICTING CREATIVITY? YATIN ARORA* Introduction Music sampling refers to the process whereby segments of a pre-existing recording are incorporated into a new composition.1 To the average listener, the phrase sampling may suggest a practice reserved for music enthusiasts and conjure up images of headphone-clad youngsters huddled around a set of turntables. Yet, on closer scrutiny, it becomes apparent that sampling is not as niche as one may initially think. The hook of Vanilla Ice's chart- topping 'Ice Ice Baby', for example, plagiarised the bassline of Queen and David Bowie's 1981 song 'Under Pressure',2 without intending to give the latter credit or royalties of any kind.3 The opening of ABBA's 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)' was sampled in Madonna's 'Hung Up'.' Unlike Vanilla Ice, Madonna allegedly 'begged' for permission and thus incorporated the sample in a more ethical way.s Even Drake sampled 'I'm Too Sexy' by Right Said Fred in his 2021 song 'Way 2 Sexy'.6 * Yatin Arora is an alumnus of the University of Birmingham. He holds a First Class Honours degree in Law and has recently completed an LL.M. in International Commercial Law with Distinction. He is currently a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Birmingham City University, teaching on a wide range of undergraduate modules, and is due to commence his training contract with the international law firm, Eversheds Sutherland, in 2023. The author would like to thank the Editorial Board for their assistance with this article. 1 Melissa Hahn, 'Digital Music Sampling and Copyright Policy - A Bittersweet Symphony? Assessing the Continued Legality of Music Sampling in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States' (2006) 34 GaJICL 713, 719. 2 'Ice Ice Baby' (WhoSampled) <www.whosampled.com/Vanilla-Ice/Ice-Ice-Baby/> accessed 12 March 2022. 3 Gary Westfahl, Science Fiction, Children's Literature, and Popular Culture (Praeger 2000) 100. 4 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)' (WhoSampled) <www.whosampled.com/AB BA/Gimme! -Gimme! -Gimme! -(A-Man-After-Midnight)/> accessed 12 March 2022. s 'Madonna ended up begging Abba to use sample' (NME) <www.nme.com/news/music/madonna-270-1319586> accessed 12 March 2022. 6 'Way 2 Sexy' (WhoSampled) <www.whosampled.com/Drake/Way-2-Sexy/> accessed 12 March 2022. 168 [Vol XXV