What if Swedish artists were allowed to sample freely?

[~XIX~]

Originally Posted by Mazer

Realistically, will copyright be completly removed from Sweedish law, or will they simply reduce the copyright terms and infringement penalties?

Sweden is a signatory to four international copyright treaties, including the Berne convention and the Rome convention. These treaties require a term of protection lasting for at least lifetime of the author, producer, or performer of the recording plus 50 years, but they give Sweden the ability to make exceptions for specific uses of copyrighted material. If the Swedes want to change their law to give citizens the right to sample copyrighted songs for commercial use then they may do so, but that exception will not extend beyond Sweden's borders.

To my knowledge there are no compulsory licensing laws that apply to music samples, so I would expect that if such a compilation as you're describing were to be produced in Sweden and published abroad that the producer of that mash-up would be legally liable in the other countries that have signed those treaties. And should she visit one of those nations she would be subject to arrest and trial for her crimes, such as happened to Dmitry Sklyarov when he visited the United States. Furthermore, these other nations might decide to censor the mash-up and bar it from sale or broadcast until the proper license fees are paid.

Interesting. As far as I know (at least in the UK) the limit is 2 bars or 2 seconds... and that sample cannot be used as the 'hook' for the tune either... unless royalties are paid... and i think that permission needs to be asked before release or u will be sued.

I was also under the impression that the US had extended copyright on music to 75 years after death... prolly cuz Elvis' estate isn't rich enough yet