Kraftwerk's 20-Year Copyright Battle Ends in Defeat as Court Deems Sample a Legal 'Pastiche'

Kraftwerk's 20-Year Copyright Battle Ends in Defeat as Court Deems Sample a Legal 'Pastiche'

A lengthy and winding copyright infringement dispute initiated by legendary German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk in 2004 has reached its conclusion — with an outcome unfavorable to the band.

On April 14, the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest judicial body, made a determination that the unauthorized two-second sample drawn from Kraftwerk's 1977 composition "Metall auf Metall" — which was incorporated into producer Moses Pelham's 1997 track "Nur mir" — constituted lawful use.

The court's ruling effectively closes a two-decade-long legal struggle, determining that Pelham's sampling of the distinctive passage represented a permissible musical adaptation rather than an infringing reproduction, thereby allowing the producer's work to remain in circulation without legal consequence.