Sixth Circuit Ruling on 'Atomic Dog' Samples Protects Small Segments of Musical Compositions

Only a minimal amount of creativity is required for copyright protection. What that minimum may be has been a recurring issue in copyright litigation, with many battles fought over whether a segment of a song is protectable. In 2003, in the first federal appeals court ruling involving music sampling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that the Beastie Boys' unlicensed use of a sample of a three-note segment ' from flutist James Newton's composition “Choir” in the rap group's recording “Pass the Mic” ' was de minimis and thus not infringing. Newton v. Diamond, 349 F.3d 591 (9th Cir. 2003). But in 2004, the Sixth Circuit decided for a copyright plaintiff, ruling that the unlicensed sampling of any segment of a sound recording, even if digitally altered, (in that case three quick, successive notes from a George Clinton sound recording) automatically infringed. Bridgeport Music Inc. v. Dimension Films, 383 F.3d 390 (6th Cir. 2004).