For when the owner of a song lets you use a piece of it in a new song: which seconds, how they are used, what the owner gets in return and how they are credited. The artist using the sample fills in the original song, the new one and the numbers, and the owner signs online. In English or Spanish. Starting from a template uses no credits.
TONTRIA Law guides you and drafts your documents. For a lawsuit or a big negotiation, consult a lawyer.
You choose what the owner licenses: the musical composition, the sound recording or both, with the original song’s title, writers, performer and ISRC if you have it. The licence covers only the share that owner controls; you clear the other co-owners, and the other element if only one is licensed, on your own.
The start and end time in the original (for example 1:05 to 1:12) and how it is used: a loop under the whole song, the vocal in the chorus or a one-off effect. You can edit, loop, pitch-shift and time-stretch it without changing its character.
The new song by title and artist, plus the radio edit, extended, instrumental, a cappella and clean versions, official remixes and the official music video, as long as the sample is used the same way. Non-exclusive, worldwide and for the full term of copyright.
Use the sample in any other song, share it on its own as a stem, loop or sound-library sample, use more of the original than the agreed seconds, use the original’s title or its writers’ names beyond the credit, or use it to train or generate output from AI. Any other sync (ads, films, series, video games) needs the owner’s written approval for each use.
Any mix of three: a flat fee paid within 10 days of signing and before release, a percentage of what the new recording earns after the distributor’s fee, and a percentage of the new song’s songwriting, collected directly from collecting societies. Put 0 where there is none. The licence starts only once the fee is paid.
Statements every six months, within 60 days of each half-year, by platform and country. The owner can audit once a year with 30 days’ notice, and if they were underpaid by more than 5% you pay the difference and the cost of the audit. The royalty is never reduced by advances or recording costs.
The new song is registered with collecting societies before release or within 30 days after, with the owner’s share, and its metadata says it contains a sample. The owner doesn’t claim your track for the sample, and you don’t register the sample on its own as yours.
The credit reads “Contains a sample of [song] ([writers and performer]), used by permission” wherever credits appear, fixed within 30 days if left out by mistake. The original writers’ and performers’ moral rights are kept, and the sample can’t be used in a way that harms their reputation.
Each side warrants its part and indemnifies the other; the owner’s liability is capped at what they received. If the fee isn’t paid on time, the licence counts as never granted. After release, unpaid royalties for more than 90 days after notice can end it, and then the track comes down within 30 days.
The two permissions a sample needs, how to find the owners and what to do if they say no: how to clear a sample. Then put the new song’s shares on a split sheet.
Upload your next contract or start a split sheet today, and get your deals on paper.
