Kraftwerk have lost one of the longest-running copyright cases in music history over a sample of their song ‘Metall Auf Metall’.
The dispute centres around a short excerpt of the 1977 track that was used in the 1997 song ‘Nur Mir’ by German rapper Sabrina Setlur, produced by Moses Pelham and Martin Haas.
It began as a domestic German copyright claim in the late ‘90s, and Kraftwerk members Ralf Hütter and the late Florian Schneider were initially successful in their case that the unlicensed use of their song constituted infringement.
However, that ruling was subsequently appealed, overturned and referred on several occasions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), resulting in a three-decade long legal battle over the regulation of sampling in Europe.
A 2019 ruling held that sampling a recognisable section of a recorded song can amount to copyright infringement unless the sample is changed to the point that it becomes no longer identifiable.
Now, a ruling last week (April 14) in the CJEU’s court in Luxembourg has ruled that a song can qualify as a “pastiche” if it evokes an existing recording in a recognisable but transformed form, but remains “notably different” from the original and engages in “artistic or creative dialogue” with the original.
This represents a defeat for Kraftwerk, as it effectively confirms that Pelham and Haas’ use of the sample falls within the “pastiche” category.
Kraftwerk’s ‘Multimedia’ UK and Ireland tour is set to kick off in Dublin on May 17 and will take in a total of 17 dates, including three in London’s Royal Albert Hall on June 4, 5 and 6. It wraps in Edinburgh on June 9 – see all of the dates here and find any remaining tickets here.
A press release stated: “Kraftwerk and the much-celebrated robots return to the UK bringing with them their constantly upgraded ‘Multimedia’ Tour, which began back in 2012 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Part performance, part digital installation, the Kraftwerk live show is an unmissable audio and technological spectacle.”
The group have also announced a “vivid” 50th anniversary re-release for their first entirely electronic album ‘Radio-Activity’, which is out on May 15. Pre-order your copy here.