I just posted this to souncloud and was wondering if this commercial sample is legal, like for an album release?
https://soundcloud.com/gknight0172/for-the-taste
Also general discussion on sampling rights, Id like to know what more experienced people know about this, as sampling is new to me and Im not sure how it gets enforced.
This tune is illegal.
It will be enforced by the dub police.
Tl;Dr depends on the sample and how much of an asshole you sampled is. If you took a whole song and just put a new beat on it, probably not ok without permission. A 1 bar loop? Probably ok.
Of course none of this matters if no one listens to your music
The old rule of thumb was if it sold less than 5000 copies nobody really gave a fuck.
These days itās more about the aggressiveness of the copyrightbot scouring the internet relentlessly like squiddies in the Matrix, looking for offending algorithmic impositionā¦
IMO thereās really no good reason to sample straight hooks and bars unless thereās some kind of referential or statement happening, orā¦ I dunno. Sampling is an instrument, and hearing a straight copy of someone elseās lick is as boring on a sampler as a guitar most of the time.
Is it legal? No.
Will anyone actually care unless youāre in the national charts? No.
I have heard that you can use a full 8 seconds from any media without copyright issues.
Can anyone verify is this is correct? 
Super untrue.
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013/05/4-music-law-myths-that-indie-musicians-need-to-shake.html
Thanks for the reply _ronzio! 
All technically illegal under copyright laws unless itās been cleared with the rights holder, usually the publisher. Almost everyone used to be able to slide under the radar because it wasnāt easy to get caught, or worth the legal cost if you did, unless it became a radio hit. If the tune was exceptionally popular it would just get released on a white label aka blank record like 2 years later.
These days with software able to scan everything uploaded everywhere in a matter of minutes itās easy to get caught. Thereās an emerging industry based on doing exactly that, and not just for sampling but mainly for piracy. Automatic DMCA threats and takedown notices get sent.
Things used to fall into the public domain more often (still took decades), but these days most people choose to extend their copyrights even well after their deaths so I doubt your grandkids will be able to use those Kanye samples.
Fair use for commentary and criticism is a real thing indeed and I have used it to my advantage, but only with video work. With music unless itās an obvious goofy parody I donāt think thereās much chance at passing it off as a fair use case.
TBH I think - in a weird way - that the laws are only helping by imposing these limitations on artists.
Anyone still ripping off other peopleāsā hooks straight up without changing them in the least - that shitās gotta go unless youāre a āserious artistā with an agenda centered around social critique and even thenā¦ yawn. Been done. A lot. A lot a lot.
Itās much more interesting (to me) to turn a sound into something other - to reappropriate the raw materials and forge it into something new.
Btw itās interesting that you can copyright a melody but not a beat or rhythmā¦ only the recording thereof. You could do the Queen āChampionsā BOOM-BOOM-CLAPā¦ BOOM-BOOM-CLAPā¦ ting and as long as no sounds were used from the original recording itād be untouchable legally.
Makes ya think. 
Surely, it is better to use legal and official parts with the necessary copyright signs. But sometimes, like here https://www.theengineeringprojects.com/2019/05/the-most-trending-social-media-writing-tools-for-2019.html everything can be so vague, that it is better to ask them and to make sure in everything with their help.
Botspeakā¦
Theyāre getting smarter
Yeah, this oneās more articulate than some regularsā¦ 
His IP address pings back as both Thailand and Dallas, tx. Seems legit to me 
Iāve never seen a bot link to The Guardian before though.
Also, Iām a bot. Iāll bet you guys didnāt know that. After all these years.
2 year necrobump! !
If someone takes your music, they wonāt pay you anything. Pay attention!
When the bots start catfishing itās all gonna go south lol.