how much you think he paid for royalty?

[Duff]

What about this:

http://myspace.com/tugboat -- Listen to the second track, "Remix Medley 1". Excluding the very start of the song in which he uses a sample, the entire song is made from scratch. He took the melody/beats from popular rap songs, and remade them using only 8-bit instruments. Now it's obvious to anyone who knows the original rap songs that they're being covered, but the actual result sounds completely different than the original songs due to the instruments used. He's an independent artist, so I highly doubt he had the money to license all these songs from the original rappers. Now it's obvious by the name "Remix Medley" that he was aware he was covering songs, but if it was just one of the songs? It sounds similar, but not the same. Would it still be copyright infringement, especially since rap songs have very simple repetitive melodies that would be easy to accidentally duplicate?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm really looking to understand this so I don't make a mistake. I write my own music all the time, and have in the past "accidentally" copied a melody, because it was in my head and I didn't know if I invented it or was thinking of it from something else.

 

[Barry_Green]

"sampling" = "stealing"

There is nothing truly original left, but you do your best. But to directly sample someone else's work is theft, and has been upheld as such in the courts over and over.

 

[David Jimerson]

I write my own music all the time, and have in the past "accidentally" copied a melody, because it was in my head and I didn't know if I invented it or was thinking of it from something else.

George Harrison got nailed for doing exactly that.