Kraftwerk lose one of music's "longest-running" copyright cases

Kraftwerk have lost one of music's "longest-running" copyright cases in a landmark ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU (CEUJ).

The German electronic music pioneers launched a dispute against producer Moses Pelham over 30 years ago for his sampling of their 1977 track 'Metall auf Metall', which he used on German rapper Sabrina Setlur's 1997 track 'Nur Mir'.

Kraftwerk members Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider initially won their case for copyright infringement against Pelham over the sample, but the case was overturned with an appeal which started a lengthy court battle, eventually ruling in favour of Pelham.

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While the ruling was overturned by the CEUJ in 2019, according to law firm Pinsent Masons, the legal ramifications meant that any sample used would be regarded as copyright infringement under EU law unless it was "unrecognisable".

The case was later re-submitted to the CEUJ via the German court system over a debate of the definition of "pastiche" - i.e. sampling as a tribute to an artistic work - as a valid defence in copyright infringement cases.

The CEUJ has now ruled that creative works that emulate an existing creation but remain "notably different" are engaging in "artistic or creative dialogue”; due to being of a different genre while maintaining the sample as a recognisable nod, Pelham's track then falls into this category.

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“In order for a finding to be made that use is ‘for the purpose’ of pastiche, it is sufficient that the ‘pastiche’ nature be recognisable for a person who is familiar with the existing work from which the elements have been borrowed,“ the CEUJ ruling reads.

"A finding that the user intended to use the work for that purpose is therefore not necessary," the court notes continue. "The Court notes that that interpretation of the exception for ‘pastiche’ ensures a fair balance between the protection of the freedom of the arts and copyright protection, as well as legal certainty.”

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on X