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The Beastie Boys won’t have to defend themselves over claims they used an illegal sample.
In November last year, the rap trio were given permission by a San Francisco court to use a six second segment of James Newton’s 1978 composition ‘Choir’ on their song ‘Pass The Mic’, as they had paid a licence fee for the sample.
Yesterday (June 13), the Supreme Court upheld the decision and let stand the decision against Newton, reports Yahoo.
The court also decided that the short segment in ‘Pass The Mic’ was not distinctive enough to be considered Newton’s work. This was in spite of the fact that representatives of the jazz and independent artists community had filed a brief supporting Newton.
