Strict sampling law creates a two-tier system: artists rich enough to clear samples, and outlaws who can't afford to

The film argues that the current copyright clearance regime produces a fundamentally unfair outcome: sampling is only legally available to artists or labels with significant capital to pay clearance fees. Emerging artists and independent producers cannot afford to clear samples from major-label catalogs. This bifurcates the sampling world into (1) officially cleared, expensive commercially-released music, and (2) underground/mixtape culture operating outside the law. The Gray Album and many mixtapes exist only because they never attempted commercial release. This structure, critics argue, entrenches existing power relations in the music industry and suppresses the kind of innovative collage music that defined hip-hop’s golden era.

Examples

‘Sampling law has created two classes — you’re either rich enough to afford the law or you’re a complete outlaw.’ Mixtape culture as the legal release valve: ‘it can only exist in the kind of mixtape form.‘

Assessment

What does ‘sampling law has created two classes’ mean? Give one example of music that exists only outside the commercial legal system because of clearance costs.