Danish production outfit Djuma Soundsystem have been ordered to pay a huge fine in Denmark’s first ever copyright case involving music sampling.
Djuma Soundsystem have lost a landmark case involving an uncleared sample on one of their records and been ordered to pay in excess of a million kroner (about £170,000) to the owners of the original track.
The track in question is probably their best-known work ‘Les Djinns’, the Trentmoller remix of which charted at #73 on Resident Advisor’s Top Tracks of the 00s poll. The track used a portion of the track ‘Turkish Showbiz’ by Atilla Engin from an LP bought by group member Frantz Vilmer Thomasen for ten kroner.
The record sold about 150 copies when initially released, but was picked up again by Get Physical a few years later. At this stage, the group made efforts to contract Engin to clear the sample, eventually discovering that he had moved to Brazil and starting an email correspondence to discuss handing him a share of the royalties through the Danish music rights management organisation Koda.
It was later revealed however that the rights to the track were actually owned by another man, Per Meistrup, who sued the group in 2009.
The group are now appealing the ruling, hiring a lawyer for the case after representing themselves in the first trial. Former group member Lars Bjarno who is one of those responsible for the fine is worried that this case could set a worrying precedent.
“I don’t want to be broke for the rest of my life. But the judgement sets a precedent for all the other people facing cases like these,” Bjarno said.
“What it all boils down to is let bygones be bygones. There’s some money here; let’s share it in a fair and decent way. I think we should pay and acknowledge that we made a mistake and we’re sorry.”
Here are both the tracks concerned…
