At first glance, you might think that Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling is only for certain types of musicians, or for attorneys specializing in copyright and intellectual property law. You might also think, based on the title and the fact that digital sampling has been a part of popular music for several decades now, that the book is a little late to the game. Fortunately, neither of these impressions is accurate.

Creative License is for musicians, music fans and anyone interested in the history of hip-hop, sampling, and mash-ups, as well as for those who are curious about the evolution of US copyright and licensing laws. It’s also incredibly timely, given the present climate of our musical culture, when the internet has made sampling—in every medium—a way of life.