Session musicians whose performances are sampled often receive no royalties because they were paid as hired performers, not composers

When a session musician played on a recording in the 1960s or 1970s, they were paid a flat session fee. The copyright in the composition was held by the songwriter or publisher; the copyright in the master recording was held by the record label. If that recording is later sampled, the royalties flow to the rights holders — the label and publisher — not to the musician who performed the part. Clyde Stubblefield, who played the ‘Funky Drummer’ break that became one of the most sampled recordings in history, received no royalties from thousands of samples of his performance, because he owned neither the composition nor the master recording.

Examples

Clyde Stubblefield: ‘I never got a thanks I never got a hello how are you doing or anything from any of the rap artist.’ ‘His name never appears on any of those compositional credits… he doesn’t get royalties. He got paid for the time in the studio.‘

Assessment

Why did Clyde Stubblefield not receive royalties when his drum break was sampled? What would have needed to be different in his original contract for him to benefit?