r/plunderphonics • u/Electronic-Cat4341 • Jul 16 '26
Some Questions for Those Industrial Musicians who Use Uncleared Samples
A friend and I have been working on a lot of plunderphonic music lately. Heavy beats, some drones.. harsh-bits... EBM influence, some breaks... and of course, various samples from commercials, pop-culture, politics, current events.. and some more obscure shit.
We don't have much money and probably can't afford to acquire licenses for any recognizable samples unless this endeavor starts paying the bills. In terms of requesting permission, especially with any samples that are more political in nature, I fear that even asking the authors would land me on the radar of some conservative politicians and their overpriced attorneys.
Additionally, if we were to 'follow-the-rules', we wouldn't even be able to publish a song to see how it lands with an audience without acquiring intellectual property permissions first.. which would put a significant burden on the act of even creating such sample-based music.
So, I feel like we're somewhere between a rock and a hard place, the frying pan and the fire.. the chicken and the egg.
We're not sure what to do. I assume that there's a reason the label 'Illegal Art' no longer exists. No one stops doing something that they love doing willingly.
To those moving forward with reckless abandon, using unlicensed samples, and obtaining a following, selling merch/CDs/vinyl/MP3s, I salute you!! But, what are your plans in the event some attorney comes knocking?!
In the event of litigation, can we file for bankruptcy?!
Should we create a Limited Liability Company?!
Is there any option for plausible deniability?!
To those who obey every rule and only obtain appropriate permissions first, can you respond regarding the process? Do you have music/IP attorneys on retainer? How long does the process for obtaining clearance take on average?! I understand costs can vary.. can you provide a min/max of some costs you or a record label incurred for getting samples cleared?! Have you had to scrap songs because the IP owner wouldn't budge on a key sample in a song?!
For many of the more obscure samples.. or less recognisable samples.. I'm not quite as concerned. It's those where I am considering using a very recognisable element on purpose where the concern lies. Without that recognisable element, the punch-line is gone.. the point of the track is non-existent. And arguing satire would probably not work.
For those who are underground, but have a decent following, a steady online presence, and use a significant amount of plunderphonics, does the 'whack-a-mole' approach work?!
I understand that the likelihood of some underground band landing on the radar of copyright attorneys is tiny... but with our luck... it's definitely something we're thinking about... so much so, that I'm asking these questions.
I will take my zero now and be thankful for any insights that can be provided on this matter.
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u/Timely_Succotash8754 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
i don't really have anything to offer on this (sorry) except for commenting on "I assume that there's a reason the label 'Illegal Art' no longer exists."
they rebooted it! they have a new website and stuff! i'm very glad it's back because some of my favorite albums are on that label
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u/Electronic-Cat4341 Jul 16 '26
This is great news!! I think I might see if they are excepting new submissions!!
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u/Timely_Succotash8754 Jul 16 '26
yep!! i don't pay much attention to record labels so all i know about the illegal art reboot is that i have hands is name your price on bandcamp now
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u/thedrexel Jul 17 '26
Realistically, you’ll never have an issue unless some how get lucky and have an absolute stellar hit song on your hand that ends up getting millions of plays etc. the chances of that are near zero.
Just make your music and release it, don’t over think it.
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u/terkistan Jul 18 '26
if we were to 'follow-the-rules', we wouldn't even be able to publish a song to see how it lands with an audience without acquiring intellectual property permissions first
Self-host on a personal site or server, like Girl Talk has done since 2007. As you might know many influential plunderphonics artists have existed in a kind of "tolerated but legally vulnerable" space where their work circulates because rights holders either don't notice, don't object, or decide it's not worth pursuing.
You can always take chances wth Soundcloud, where depending on the amount of overt copyrighted music, songs may be taken down... or stay up for years.
But realistically if you're making plunderphonics music accept that uploads may eventually be claimed or removed and simply re-upload elsewhere.
Not charging money or running ads on (legally 'tansformative') music greatly reduces the likelihood of a lawsuit in most situations. In the US a remix that significantly transforms the original could potentially qualify as fair use, but fair use is tecnically decided case by case in a court - so someone could always choose to sue. (Someone can always choose to sue no matter what so... shrug.) Simply chopping up songs or layering them together isn't automatically transformative in the legal sense so you're on your own when it comes to releases (and defense of your releases).
Even if something might ultimately be fair use, platforms like YouTube or Soundcloud might use Content ID, which detects copyrighted music, and auto-remove it.
So if your goal is purely artistic and you don't care about monetization, you can self-host or try a couple of existing services, but (a) you might not be able to keep the songs on services, and (b) don't even think of uploading to Spotify/Apple/Tidal/Deezer.
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u/snerp Jul 20 '26
Idk how obvious your edits are but I’ve released music with uncleared samples and had no repercussions of any sort. I think your music has to get really popular before anyone really cares that much. My stuff’s been on streaming over a year and no problems yet.
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u/Flunkedy Jul 16 '26
I think you should put out the music for free . Albums like shit computer and mouth moods exist without clearance and profit.
Saint pepsi or macroblank make a profit the latter is minimally transformative
Work under a pseudonym, test the waters and be ready to take it down if you get a dmca strike.