CompuServe Messages

Hmmm… Hmmm… Well… There have been lawsuits over samples of instruments. For example, a drummer is hired (at a fixed salary) for a day or two to play in the samples – he plays in some grooves and breaks/fills (his own!) which are then sampled and put together by the producer of the record to provide the rhythm tracks for the recordings. The drummer isn't mentioned in the credits, he doesn't get a share of the record's revenues, the record becomes a hit, the producer and whoever get rich, our drummer is left with his $1000 (maybe more, maybe less). Now, maybe it depends on what it said in his working contract whether he should get a share or not. If it says something like 'the rights of the recording are with the producer' and 'all claims, current or future, by the musician are paid by the one-off salary' it's pretty clear (or maybe not?) that he hasn't any rights to the recording or any use of it. Otherwise he might/should be successful with his claim. Single instrument samples (like one tone of a piano or one drum sound) are an entirely different matter, I would say, as there is no 'artistic' act involved in producing them (A monkey can hit a key on a piano but not play 'Fuer Elise'…). So one might think that those samples a non-copyrightable – maybe they are, in principle, but once such a sample makes an integral part of a song by which is is recognized… you get the point? // Chris coming in from Germany \X/ on AutoPilot 1.06………..