Madonna performs “Vogue” during her World Tour (Photo : You Tube/Madonna Vevo)
The US federal appeals court declared that Madonna did not violate any copyright law in connection with her hit song "Vogue." The pop queen was cleared of any charges after the court did not find concrete proof that the horn arrangement in the mentioned 1990 hit track was copied from another song called "Ooh I Love It (Love Break)."
The lawsuit filed by VMG Salsoul LLC alleged that the producer of the track "Vogue," replicated a 0.23-second segment of horns from one of their own copyrighted song. The music company added that the modified version of that snippet was used in the recording of Madonna's song.
According to Daily Mail UK, VMG also included Shep Pettibone as one of the plaintiffs after the company claimed that it was him who sampled the horn music for use in "Vogue." The song writer immediately renounced the accusation.
In the end, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1, in favor of Madonna. The court stated that the average listeners of "Vogue" will not recognize the modified horn segment because it is really short and it only appeared for a total of five times.
Moreover, the Court of Appeals maintained the lower court decision handed down in 2013 which dismissed the case by stating that the sample was "de minimis" or very insignificant to warrant attention. The judge added that even if the listener recognized the bit of similarity in the horn hits of the songs in question, it is hard to imagine that the listener would think that sampling had came about.
"We conclude that a reasonable juror could not conclude that an average audience would recognize the appropriation of the horn," Channel 24 quoted judge Susan Graber as saying.
"Vogue" was a big hit in the 90s. The song was included in Madonna's second soundtrack album called "I'm Breathless." It was later released as part of the queen of pop's first single album on March 20, 1990.
Watch Madonna's performance of "Vogue" on MTV Awards 1990:
