Fifth Circuit's Decision in Sampling Case Considers Automatic Liability Controversy

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of internationally successful hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in a music sampling suit brought against them by New Orleans jazz musician Paul Batiste. Batiste v. Lewis, 19-30400 (5^th Cir. 2020). The decision is notable for the Fifth Circuit's use of the "widespread dissemination" and "chain of events" tests to determine whether the defendants had access to Batiste's works, neither which approach it said it had previously expressly adopted. In the opinion, the 5^th Circuit also weighed in on the controversial Sixth Circuit opinion in Bridgeport Music Inc. v. Dimension Films, 383 F.3d 390 (6^th Cir. 2004), which held that any sampling — even if digitally altered — from a pre-existing sound recording is automatic copyright infringement.