LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A federal appeals panel in Pasadena today ruled that Madonna did not violate copyright law by using portions of another song in her 1990 hit, “Vogue.” In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that a modified version of a horn segment allegedly copied from the Salsoul Orchestra’s 1975 dance tune “Ooh, I Love It (Love Break)” did not violate the plaintiff’s copyright.
“Even if one grants the dubious proposition that a listener recognized some similarities between the horn hits in the two songs, it is hard to imagine that he or she would conclude that sampling had occurred,” Judge Susan Graber wrote in the opinion.
Madonna was sued by VMG Salsoul LLC in July 2012 in Los Angeles federal court for allegedly not paying for horn and string samples used on “Vogue.”
“The unauthorized sampling was deliberately hidden … within `Vogue’ so as to avoid detection,” the lawsuit alleged. VMG Salsoul sought unspecified damages, plus all profits made from sales of “Vogue.”