[LAU] [slightly OT] Musical citation (what is allowed?)

[Sebastian Moors]

Julien Claassen wrote:
> Hello everyone!
>   I'd like to cite from a relatively recent work (1970), which of 
> course is still copyrighted. So can I do it per se? I'd just like to 
> cite a main phrase for a bit (2-4 bars) I suspect. any hints on that 
> would be very much appreciated.
>   Warm regards
>            Julien
Hi Julien!

I'm afraid that my mail includes not a definite answer, but the english 
wikipedia page on sampling includes a lot of information about the legal 
conflicts that this topic brings up: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_%28music%29#Legal_issues

It includes a case where the sampling of 3 notes was considered to be a 
problem, even though this decision was widely criticized. Other samples 
(like a short sample of a flute) were not seen as a infringement.From my 
point of view the legal situation is very unclear :)
- Sebastian