Kraftwerk vs. Pelham, a 1999 German copyright suit over a 2-second loop, ended after 25 years with the ECJ ruling the sample protected as “pastiche.”
Key Takeaways
Producer Moses Pelham looped 2 seconds of Kraftwerk’s “Metall auf Metall” (1977) in Sabrina Setlur’s “Nur Mir” (1997); Kraftwerk sued in Hamburg in 1999.
The ECJ ruled twice: first for Kraftwerk (2016, “unrecognizable” standard), then for Pelham (recent, pastiche exemption added to EU law in 2021).
Pre-2021 usage was still found infringing; only post-2021 usage is protected, making the outcome a split result for both sides.
Germany lacks US-style fair use; narrow carve-outs meant sampling was unaddressed until 2021 pastiche/parody provisions were added.
The case required two full round trips through German and ECJ courts, a rare procedural path that added nearly a decade to the timeline.
