Short answer: in the UK you can sample a song legally only with permission from both owners of it, the owner of the sound recording, usually a label, and the owner of the composition, usually a publisher. There is no safe length, no fair dealing exception for releasing music, and changing the sample does not change who owns it. What a producer can do without asking anyone is use samples that come with a licence, such as a reputable sample pack, replay a part and clear only the composition, or write the part from scratch. I make beats for artists who release them, so this is the question I answer most, and this is the plain version, not legal advice.
Two copyrights in every record
A recording of a song carries two separate rights. The composition, the melody, the chords, the lyrics, belongs to the writer and is usually handled by a publisher. The sound recording, that particular performance captured in that studio, belongs to whoever paid for it, usually a label. Sampling a record uses both at once, so both have to agree, and either can say no. Replaying the part with your own players uses only the composition, which is why interpolation, as the industry calls it, is the cheaper route. Writing something that sounds similar but is not the same melody uses neither, which is the free route and the hardest.
The myths, one by one
- Under a few seconds is fine. No. UK law has no minimum length. A recognisable one-second hit is a copy of the recording.
- If I pitch it and chop it, it is mine. No. It is their recording, altered. Alteration is not ownership.
- Fair dealing covers it. No. The UK exceptions cover things like quotation, criticism and parody in narrow cases; releasing a track built on someone's record is not among them.
- Nobody will notice a small artist. Content ID notices, because it is a machine matching audio, not a person listening. It matches first and asks later.
- I will clear it if it blows up. By then the price has gone up with the track, and the rights holder can simply refuse.
What a producer can actually use
- Licensed sample packs and loops, where the licence allows commercial release. Read the licence, keep it, and avoid packs that lift from records themselves.
- Replayed parts, with the composition cleared through the publisher. For an unsigned artist this is often a fixed fee or a share of the writing credit.
- Original material: a chord progression written for the beat, a vocal chop recorded by a singer you paid, a drum hit you made. This is most of what I do, and it is why the beats I license come with the stems and no surprises.
- Public domain recordings, which in the UK means recordings old enough that the recording copyright has expired and compositions old enough that the writer's has too. Both have to be clear, and modern re-recordings of old songs are new recordings.
Clearance, in practice
Clearing a recording means finding the label that owns it, asking in writing, and agreeing a fee and a share. For an independent release this is slow and often ends in a no or a fee bigger than the track. Clearing a composition means the publisher, and it is usually easier. Both are far easier before release than after, because before release you are asking and after release you are negotiating with someone who has already found you. If a track you are making needs a sample from a record, decide at the beat stage whether it can be replayed, and if it cannot, whether the track is worth the clearance. Most are not, and the beat is better for being written.
What this means for the beats I sell
Every beat on this site is built from parts I made or parts I hold a commercial licence for, and the licence you buy says so. That is the whole reason the stems come with the Premium and Exclusive licences: you can see what is in the beat, and so can a label. The beat licence guide explains what each tier lets you do, and the custom beats page covers a beat built for one track, where the question of samples is settled before the first bar.
Questions I get asked
Can I use a sample if I change it a lot? Changing it does not clear it. Pitching, chopping and reversing a recording still uses the recording and the composition, and both owners can object. Clearance is about permission, not recognisability.
Is there a few-seconds rule in the UK? No. There is no fixed length below which a sample is free. A one-second drum hit from a record is still a copy of that recording.
What about replaying the sample myself? Replaying avoids the recording copyright but still uses the composition, so the publisher's permission is needed. It is cheaper and simpler than clearing a recording, which is why so many producers do it.
Are sample packs safe? Yes, when the pack's licence allows commercial use, which the reputable ones do. Keep the licence and the receipt; a label will ask.
What happens if I release an uncleared sample? Content ID can match it and send your royalties to the rights holder, a label can take the track down, and if it does well the bill arrives when it is most expensive to pay. The usual outcome is a track pulled from the platforms a week after it starts working.
Photo: Erwi, Unsplash licence.
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