Samples-legal?
Jeff,
The Copyright Laws (check your local library or the library of Congress
for the latest updates) give the copyright holder the exclusive rights to
reproduce a copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works and publicly
distribute display and perform it. Samples can be copyrighted in
"compilation" works that are formed by the collection and assembling of
preexisting materials that are selected, coordinated or arranged in such a
way that the resulting work, as a whole, constitutes an original work.
If it's copyrighted, there is little you can legally do with a sample or
anything else unless you have permission from the owner of copyright. If
it's not copyrighted or published, you're dealing with matters of
conscience rather than matters of law. Remember that copyrighting and
publishing are two different things.
Finally, check the results of CONTU (the national commission on New
Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works) for copyright policies relating
to data processing and reproduction technologies. A couple of books that
might offer some help are the latest editions of "Copyright Handbook" and
"This Business of Music."
jf – lamplight productions
~~~sailing on autopilot~~~