A 25-Year-Fight over a 2-Second Sample

a day ago

Kraftwerk sued producer Moses Pelham in 1999 for using a two-second sample from their song without permission, starting a long copyright case.
After over 25 years, the European Court of Justice ruled in favor of Pelham, finding the sample protected as 'pastiche' under EU copyright law.
The case involved multiple appeals, with early rulings favoring Kraftwerk, but later EU legal layers and new laws extended the dispute.
Differences between EU/German copyright law (narrow exemptions) and U.S. fair use contributed to the length and complexity of the case.
The outcome is mixed: Pelham won for post-2021 usage, but lost for pre-2021, setting a precedent for sampling as pastiche in the EU.

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