ABSTRACT
Copyright infringement from illegal sampling may breach warranty provisions in recording contracts. Copyright owners have the exclusive right to authorize the making of copies and derivative works based on the original work, whether a musical composition or a recording. Masters that infringe copyrights of other sound recordings or musical compositions can be so rejected. The defense of fair use permits reasonable unauthorized copying from a copyrighted work, when the copying does not substantially impair present or potential value of the original work and in some way advances the public benefit. Federal copyright law contains provisions that apply to so-called bootleggers that secretly record or sample live musical performances, or copy such illegal recordings by including sampled portions in new recordings. The lawsuits are considered some of the landmark rulings in the United States concerning sampling and when it's fair use or copyright infringement.
