Into the Grey: The Unclear Laws of Digital Sampling

Authors

Bryan Bergman

Abstract

When Congress enacted the 1976 Copyright Act, the musical engineering process of digital sampling was not a common practice, nor explicitly contemplated by the Act. Over the last few decades sampling has become a very common practice. Early court decisions regarding sampling, viewed the practice as stealing; however, these decisions failed to take into account the positive transformative possibilities that sampling provides. Recently, DJ Dangermouse came out with an album entitled The Grey Album that mixed vocal content from the rap artist Jay-Z's The Black Album and musical content from the Beatles' White Album. However, Dangermouse never asked permission for the use of these samples and the copyright owners of The White Album ordered him to stop distributing his work. Many were furious and staged a protest known as Grey Tuesday, where over 300 websites allowed the album to be downloaded for free for twenty-four hours. The author utilizes the situation surrounding The Grey Album as a vehicle to discuss the current legal environment for digital sampling and the need for clearer laws on the issue.

Recommended Citation

Bryan Bergman, Into the Grey: The Unclear Laws of Digital Sampling, 27 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. 619 (2005).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol27/iss3/5