Proposals for Reform

Some scholars have proposed a compulsory licensing scheme based on the length and substantiality of the fragment sampled. Under this scheme, samplers would pay a fixed fee for each track on which the song in question was sampled. De minimis uses of samples would be exempt from payment.

Although this proposal presents a useful means to resolve the current morass, there has been no move to change the law to give effect to it. In the meanwhile, Creative Commons has developed a new sampling community called ccMixter that offers a repertory of samples under CC licenses.