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Intellectual Property Hypocrisy? (1 Viewer)

MikeAlletto

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The Beastie Boys licensed the sample from Newton's record label, Munich-based ECM, but neither the company nor the group got permission from Newton. Manella's ruling in effect said that since the sample was a recording and not a composition, his permission wasn't needed.
So they did license it then. So whats the problem?

I think the professor is jealous and just trying to get some publicity to sell more records. So they licensed 6 seconds and used it and they make millions. Does he really think the beastie boys make their millions because of his 6 seconds?
 

Jeff Ulmer

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Does he really think the beastie boys make their millions because of his 6 seconds?
This is the part that needs considering when samples are being used, because in some cases the answer may well be "yes." If the material being sampled constitutes a hook for the song, then in fact it should be deemed part of the composition, and therefore entitled to some songwriting royalties.
 

MickeS

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But, but... as I understand it, his record company paid him (well, tried to pay him) and they granted Beastie Boys permission to use the snippet. Really, what is the problem here? If there is a problem, it's between Newton and his recording company:



/Mike
 

Brian Perry

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I agree with Jeff in that it can be difficult to determine the "value" of a borrowed snippet. I'm sure if someone pasted an exact copy of Jimmy Page's solo in Stairway to Heaven in a song, it would be considered improper.

Didn't THX get upset because some rapper used their "tone sweep" in a song?
 

John P Grosskopf

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Didn't THX get upset because some rapper used their "tone sweep" in a song?
I remember reading in the liner notes of a CD I had in the late 1980's that "Big Note" (the THX intro) was not created by Lucasfilm, but actually in some univeristy's research department developing sound testing equipemnt or some such. The CD was called "The Digital Experience" (or something simililar) and had "Big Bote" as well as had speaker frequency tests, phase tests, and sound effects like jet fly-bys and raquetballs balls going from the left to the right and back. I no longer have the CD, so I can't check out it's original source.

Lucasfilm must have either licenced the tune in perpetuity or bought it outright, as I have never seen it on another CD again that was not directly related to Lucasfilm projects (though I have heard it on TV and Radio spots).

BTW, the first ever movie I saw in a "certified" THX theater with the "Big Note" logo was "Rocky IV" in Fort Worth Texas. Sounded great, but the movie............
 

Yee-Ming

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well, there we are! the record company actually forwarded a royalty cheque to the good professor, although he never got it. no foul by the Beastie Boys then (legally speaking, I won't say the same artistically speaking ;) )
as an aside, bootlegs are commonly illegal in most countries, since this is an infringement of the songwriting copyright. I'm not sure about the details, but I understand in Italy, it's legal as long as a prescribed royalty is set aside with the appropriate authority, or maybe with an identified stakeholder, for the songwriter to claim. which explains why so many bootleg concert CDs come from Italy.
 

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