How to clear a sample: sample clearance explained
Using part of someone else’s record in your song needs permission from two owners: the one who owns the recording and the ones who own the song. Here is how to find them, what to ask for and what to do when the answer is no.
This is a general guide, not legal advice. Copyright rules on sampling differ between countries and, in the United States, even between courts. For a sample in a release that matters to you, have a music lawyer check the final agreement.
The two permissions
| Permission | Covers | Ask |
|---|---|---|
| Master use license | The recording you are copying | The owner of the master: usually a label, sometimes the artist |
| Publishing (composition) license | The song inside that recording: melody, lyrics | The publishers and songwriters, often several of them |
You need both. If one owner says yes and the other says no, the sample is not cleared. Why every track has these two separate owners is explained in how to copyright a song.
“It’s only two seconds”
There is no safe length. In Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films (2005), a US federal appeals court found infringement in a two-second, three-note guitar sample and summed it up as “get a license or do not sample”. In 2016 another US appeals court (VMG Salsoul v. Ciccone) took a different view on very small samples, so US law is not uniform — but nobody should plan a release on the hope that a court will call their sample too small to matter. Distributors and platforms also act on claims long before any court does.
Sample or interpolation
An interpolation is when you re-record a melody or lyric instead of copying the original audio. You don’t use the master, so you don’t need the master license — but you still need the publishing license, because the song is still theirs. Interpolating is a common way out when a label won’t license its recording or asks too much.
How to clear a sample, step by step
- Identify exactly what you used. Song title, artist, release, and the timestamps in the original and in your track. Note whether it is audible and how many times it repeats.
- Find the master owner. Start with the label on the release credits (the ℗ line), then check whether the catalog was sold or reissued.
- Find the publishers. Search the repertoire databases of collecting societies and the US Mechanical Licensing Collective. A song often has several writers and publishers; you need all of them.
- Send a clear request to each owner: your track (or a private link), the original with timestamps, how the sample is used, the release plan (single, album, sync), the territories, and who you are.
- Negotiate the fee and the share (see below). Expect it to take weeks or months: start before the release date is fixed.
- Sign before you release. Get a written license from every owner. An email that says “sounds fine” is not a license.
There are also sample clearance companies and lawyers who do this for a fee; they are worth it when the owners are hard to reach or the release is big.
What the owners usually ask for
- A fee up front for the master, the publishing or both.
- A share of the new song’s publishing — the original writers often become co-writers of your track. Put it on the split sheet.
- A royalty on the master or a share of its income.
- Limits: territories, formats, a term, and approval of any remix or sync use.
There are no standard rates. The same sample can be cheap for an independent release and expensive once the song is already a hit — which is one more reason to clear it before release.
If you can’t clear it
- Replay or interpolate the part, and clear only the publishing.
- Replace the sample with something original or properly licensed.
- Release without it. An uncleared sample can lead to takedowns, held royalties and claims that come after the song succeeds.
Sample packs and royalty-free loops
Loops and one-shots sold in sample packs are usually licensed for use in your music without asking again — but each pack has its own license. Read what it allows (commercial releases, sync, Content ID) and keep the license with the project. A loop you downloaded from a random video or a “free” pack with no license is not cleared.
Keep the paperwork
Store every license with the song, next to the split sheet and the other contracts. Your distributor, publisher or a sync buyer may ask for them years later — see sync licensing for musicians.
TONTRIA Law reviews the license an owner sends you: it marks the clauses on fees, shares, territories and approvals, quotes the exact text and suggests what to ask for. It is an AI legal assistant, not a lawyer. TONTRIA Studio lets you share the unreleased track privately with the owners while you negotiate.