Music

Court rules in favour of hip-hop artist sampling Kraftwerk

by Jeremy Mersereau

You’d think the pioneering electronic group with robots for members would be more forward-thinking, but Kraftwerk have always been as mercilessly protective of their music and brand as a certain purple saint (PBUH). Now, one of their longest-running legal battles over the use of their IP has come to a close, thanks to Germany’s highest court.

Back in 1997, producer Moses Pelham looped a short two-second drum sample from Kraftwerk’s 1977 song “Metal Auf Metall” for a track for German rapper and singer Sabrina Setlur. Pelham’s use of the sample on “Nur Mir” (“Only Me”) resulted in a lawsuit from Ralf Hutter and co., and Germany’s Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) agreed with the suit in 2012, ruling that Setlur’s song should no longer be promoted.

The 2012 ruling was especially interesting, given that a major reason for the court’s ruling was their finding that Pelham could’ve replicated the sample himself with the equipment he had available, “Planet Rock”-style. Basically, if Pelham had just followed Afrika Baambata’s example and painstakingly recreated the “Metall Auf Metall” sample on his own, that would have been fine, but taking the far more efficient road strangely doesn’t werk for German legal authorities. Call it a landmark victory against entrenched cultural stereotypes, I guess.

Decisions handed down in the Bundesgerichtshof can only be reversed by the Federal Constitutional Court, and fortunately for Pelham and Setlur, that’s just what’s happened, as the original ruling has been sent back for reassessment. The constitutional court says that the 2012 ruling would “practically exclude the creation of pieces of music in a particular style” (read: hip-hop), essentially officially legitimizing the practice of sampling.

Explaining the decision, Court Vice President Ferdinand Kirchhof said Pelham had used the sample to create “a completely new and independent work of art” without “lessening the potential of the original recording.” Producers worldwide, who have been saying that about sampling for decades now: “Finally! Dieser Kerl bekommt es!”

The lower court will now reconsider its original ruling, chastened by the constitutional court and its recognition of artistic license. It’s official: the German constitutional court is officially the coolest court in the world, at least until our own Supreme Court starts mandating krumping competitions to resolve this whole weed thing. Come on Trudeau, make it happen.

[h/t BBC]