Kraftwerk lose the “sample battle” over “Metall auf Metall” to Sabrina Setlur. Listen to the two tracks compared

Kraftwerk have lost the long legal battle over “Metall auf Metall”, one of the most significant sampling disputes in Europe, which had dragged on for over twenty years.

At the heart of the dispute was a brief fragment of the 1977 track, reused in "Nur Mir" (1997) by rapper Sabrina Setlur, produced by Moses Pelham and Martin Haas: both tracks can be heard below.

The dispute took shape in the late 1990s in Germany, with Ralf Hütter and the late Florian Schneider initially victorious: the judges ruled that the unauthorized use of the sample constituted a copyright infringement. The proceedings, however, went through numerous reversals, repeatedly landing before the Court of Justice of the European Union and helping to define the legal boundaries of sampling under European law.

A 2019 ruling had established a key principle: the use of a recognizable portion of a recording can constitute copyright infringement, unless the sample is altered to the point of being unrecognizable. The latest ruling, issued in recent days by the Court of Justice of the European Union, introduces a further clarification: a track can be classified as a "pastiche" when it recognizably draws on a pre-existing work, but reworks it in a substantially different way, establishing a relationship of creative dialogue with the original. It is precisely this interpretation that determines the final outcome of the case: the use of the sample by Pelham and Haas is deemed to fall under the notion of "pastiche", effectively confirming Kraftwerk's defeat.

Meanwhile, for the fiftieth anniversary of “Radio-Activity”, the fifth studio album by Kraftwerk released in November 1975 (originally titled “Radio-Aktivität”), the German group has announced an official reissue accompanied by a series of concerts. The album returns to shops from May 15 via Parlophone Records in a new edition featuring a Dolby Atmos mix, created from the original 16-track tapes. The reconstruction work was overseen by Ralf Hütter together with Fritz Hilpert at Kling Klang Studio. At the time of its release, “Radio-Activity” marked a turning point for the band, standing as their first fully electronic album and as a concept record built around the themes of radioactivity and radio communications.

The reissue will be available in three formats: an audio Blu-ray with the new Dolby Atmos mix accompanied by a celebratory booklet, a 12-inch picture disc vinyl featuring the 2009 stereo remaster, and a digital version of the Atmos mix released on major streaming platforms.

The anniversary will also be marked by a tour across the UK and Ireland: 17 dates are scheduled between May and June 2026.

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