This is what Shawn Morton would look like if he had been made of LEGO sMoRTy71.com -- the personal website of Shawn Morton
UPDATE: This blog has been retired as of August 2011. See this post for more information or connect with me on Twitter.
Thursday, September 9, 2004
Court reverses sampling ruling
WIRED is reporting that a federal appeals court in Cincinnati has ruled that "rap artists should pay for every musical sample included in their work — even minor, unrecognizable snippets of music." This is a reversal of an earlier ruling which required the sample to be recognizable after it was sampled.

This will have a huge impact on hip hop. Just think of Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique" without the samples. There would be nothing left but the vocal tracks.

On the other hand, had this ruling been made earlier, we could have avoided "U Can't Touch This" and "Ice Ice Baby."

About Shawn Morton

Married father of 6; VP of Social Media at JPMorgan Chase; gluten-free; gadget enthusiast; hair metal aficionado; #Movember man View more on LinkedIn.