"The practice of music sampling, which is the integration of pre-recorded sounds into new musical gestures, experienced a golden, unregulated age in the late 1980s that is almost unimaginable today. Major works like Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988) and De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising (1989) layered dozens of samples on a single track, while massive commercial hits like Tone-L?c's "Wild Thing" (1988) openly lifted core musical elements."
"While the album is widely lauded by critics and the public alike as a work of important stature and a cultural shift, the legal climate surrounding sampling changed dramatically shortly thereafter, leading many to wonder if sampling was still encouraged or even allowed. The single, definitive legal ruling in the case involving rapper and singer/songwriter, Biz Markie, established the principle, "Thou shalt not steal" changed everything."
"Released the same year Adam Horovitz from the Beastie Boys was starring in the movie Lost Angels, 1989's "Paul's Boutique" showcased a music style defined by intense layering and complexity. The Dust Brothers, known for this type of layered sound, created a composite quilt of samples that utilized encyclopedic knowledge around existing music. Estimates of the number of samples used on "Paul's Boutique" range widely, from 150 to 300, many of which are buried deep in the mix."
Music sampling saw an unregulated golden age in the late 1980s, with artists layering dozens of pre-recorded sounds into dense new compositions. Landmark releases such as Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising, and Tone-L?c's "Wild Thing" exemplified open use of existing recordings. The Beastie Boys' 1989 "Paul's Boutique," produced by The Dust Brothers, stitched together an encyclopedic range of samples, reportedly between 150 and 300. A pivotal legal ruling in the Biz Markie case established strict anti-theft principles that dramatically curtailed unchecked sampling practices afterward.
Read at IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law
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