The European Court of Justice sides with Moses Pelham over ‘Metall auf Metall’ sample dispute.
Photo credit: Kraftwerk – Wikipedia
Kraftwerk have lost a decisive ruling in their decades-long copyright dispute with Moses Pelham, marking a key moment for sampling law in Europe.
The case centred on a two-second drum loop taken from Kraftwerk’s 1977 track ‘Metall auf Metall’, which Pelham sampled and reworked for Sabrina Setlur’s 1997 single ‘Nur mir’ without permission.
Last Tuesday, April 14th, 2026, the European Court of Justice ruled in favour of the German rapper and producer, according to Loop Rituals. The court concluded that such use can be lawful under the “pastiche” exception within European Union copyright law. It defined pastiche as a work that evokes an existing piece while showing clear differences and engaging in a recognisable artistic dialogue with the original.
The dispute began in 1999 and has passed through multiple national and European courts, becoming one of the longest-running copyright battles in German legal history.
The ruling is expected to impact sampling practices across Europe, potentially expanding the conditions under which producers can reuse existing recordings without prior consent.
Listen to ‘Metall auf Metall’ and ‘Nur mir’ below and find more information here.
