Pelham GmbH v. Hutter
European Union Court of Justice
C-476-17 (2019)

- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
Ralf Hutter (defendant) was a member of a musical group that released a song in 1977. In 1997, Moses Pelham and Martin Haas through their company Pelham GmbH (plaintiff) composed and released a new song containing an electronic sample of two seconds of Hutter’s song from 1977. The sample repeated throughout Pelham GmbH’s song. Hutter claimed that Pelham GmbH had infringed on Hutter’s copyright by sampling his music without prior authorization. German courts certified several questions to the European Union Court of Justice to analyze the extent to which samplings of sound recordings violate the original creator’s copyright.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
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