Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California

Re: song sampling

What is an acceptable amount of sampling not only depends on length of the sample, but content, and context as well. What constitutes "fair use" is determined on a case by case basis. There is not a world wide law regarding this, but many countries have similar laws or will recognize copyright held in foreign countries. Having an attorney evaluate your usage and either obtaining permission or a license to use the sample is the safest way to proceed.

Re: song sampling

There is no such thing as a fixed amount of a copyright protected work that can be sampled...

Certain kinds and quantities of use may be termed "Fair Use", and might survive a claim of copyright infringement, but the cost of defending such a suit is tremendous.

HAve a look at "Fair use" on wikipedia for more about this!

Ultimately, the fees paid to an attorney to evaluate your specific situation will be well spent. There's no substitute for good, custom-tailored legal advice.

Re: song sampling

Don't sample without permission. Otherwise you better have big money to defend your action.