©-LAW

Moses Pelham Earlier this week The IPKat  reported  that Advocate General (AG) Szpunar has now issued his (non- insubstantial : 100 paragraphs)  Opinion  in  Pelham , C-476/17 (the  Metall auf Metall  case). As readers know, this referral from Germany is asking the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to provide guidance on the lawfulness of unlicensed sampling. Sampling  is the taking  of the sounds fixed in a phonogram  in order to incorporate them into a new phonogram that contains a new work: here's  an example   in which Italian hip hop artist Mondo Marcio realized an entire album, where each track samples (with a licence) from iconic 1960s singer  Mina . It has to be said that, in the immediate aftermath of its release, commentators appeared rather disappointed with the Opinion, which recommends the CJEU to rule that unlicensed sampling may be a copyright infringement. Having now had a chan...

Moses Pelham Last year The IPKat  reported  that the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had referred the longstanding  Metall auf Metall  litigation to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The case is now  Pelham and Others , C-476/17 . Background The referral arose out of the longstanding and complex litigation in Germany concerning the unauthorized sampling by music producer Moses Pelham of a 2-second rhythmic sequence from Kraftwerk's 1977 song  Metall auf Metall  for use in his own 1997  Nur Mir . The sample featured in the latter’s song (performed by Sabrina Setlur) is a continuous background loop.  Following a number of lower courts' decisions and an instalment before the German Constitutional Court, the case is now pending before Germany’s Federal Court of Justice for the third time. This court decided to stay the proceedings and seek guidance from the CJEU on t...