All Samples Cleared! The implications of the Grand Upright Music, Ltd v. Warner Bros. Records Inc. ruling on the quantity and nature of samples used and record label affiliation for Hip Hop, Rap, and R&B artists.

Before 1991 the use of samples of pre-existing recordings to create new songs was relatively free of consequences or legal implications. However, December 17, 1991 marked the date when the first music sampling case made the courts, when Hip-Hop artist Biz Markie, affiliated with Warner Bros. Records, was accused of copyright infringement for incorporating an unlicensed sample owned by the record label Grand Upright Music in one of his songs. This has been considered by many scholars and artists a turning point for the music industry, especially for the genres of Hip-Hop, Rap and R&B, which relied heavily on sampling. Using data from selected Hot 50 Hip-Hop, Rap and R&B Billboard Charts between 1990 and 1993, an interrupted time series analysis was conducted in order to determine whether the Grand Upright Music, Ltd v. Warner Bros. Records Inc. ruling had an impact on the number major label affiliated songs on the Billboard charts, on the total number of samples and on the percentage of samples that are interpolations as opposed to direct samples. The results indicate that, no causality can be directly established between the ruling and major label presence on the charts, number of samples or the percentage of replayed samples in songs, following the tighter copyright restrictions