This is so immensely frustrating.
I can remember, many years ago, how I joked with a friend of mine about "bringing chip tunes to the dance floor." It was around the time that Jon Dunn's Gameboy Robocop theme was being used on a UK TV commercial for Ariston washing machines (so, 1990?). We both had Amigas by then and were part of the demo scene, but we also had C64 heritage and recognised the tune, wondering if Jonathan had been commissioned or was unaware.
Based on that, I always thought it would be amusing if one day I heard a genuine C64 sample in a commercial track on the radio - i.e. an "in joke" that would surprise and entertain those who acknowledged the origin, but for others, they'd be oblivious. We both made various aborted club-style OctaMED efforts using C64 samples (Sanxion a favourite), realising the potential, but never progressing any further than several works-in-progress.
Fast forward to me receiving the pre-release MoS promo of Zombie Nation / Kernkraft 400, when I actually was working in radio many years later. I instantly recognised the DW (or JCB
sample and cursed the fact that they'd got there first. Prior to this, I'd merely thought how "funny" it would be to hear something obscure (like a C64 composition) heard en masse in a commercial song (after all, I can't listen to Lionel Richie's "Running With The Night" without thinking: Cybernoid II) but I hadn't considered the copyright implications for the "geek" composer involved.
However, as I witnessed the track grow in popularity, and after it had reached #2 in the UK charts, I contacted The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column to point out that this track was based on "an ancient video game that probably none of your readers will remember, but the point is that this big hit record is basically theft" because I felt it was unjust. They were understandably incredulous, but promised they'd run something the next day.
Luckily, ZN's "theft" of DW's Lazy Jones track was rightly acknowledged thanks to Chris A, but with the Scooter incident (and others) I felt a bit sorry for the artists involved thinking they'd probably thought (like me) that they were somhow paying tribute to SID. Until Nelly Furtado's "Do It". And the clearly massively unjust situation with Timbaland. And the majors involved. And the unrelenting denials.
Quite why this wasn't an open-and-shut case is only something Chris and the band of lawyers know. It's so utterly wrong, but probably borne out of the "hey we're paying tribute" attitude I descirbed above. It's so utterly obviously that "Do It" contains the GRG track, recorded but slightly slowed down and separated (as any sample would be to fit in to a sequencer). There can surely be no doubt?
I sincerely hope this is settled shortly. I realise it's Tempest's compostion (which the Furtado song is so obviously woven around that Tempest deserves a writer credit) but GRG is due at least £10,000 publishing clearance (more? - obviously it would be straight-cut if he had a publisher to negotiate).
A happy AcidJazzed evening to y'all.
