Short answers, pulled from the story.
Sampling in music is the reuse of a portion of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may include rhythm, melody, speech, or sound effects, and are typically manipulated using electronic instruments called samplers or software such as digital audio workstations. They can be layered, looped, repitched, sped up, or slowed down to fit the new composition.
The term was coined by Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel to describe a feature of their Fairlight CMI synthesizer, launched in 1979. Vogel discovered the concept while recording a second of piano from a radio broadcast and finding he could imitate the instrument by playing the recording back at different pitches.
Guinness World Records cites Endtroducing by DJ Shadow, released in 1996, as the first album created entirely from samples. It was assembled on an Akai MPC60.
According to WhoSampled, James Brown appears in more than 3,000 tracks, more than any other artist. In 2014, the Smithsonian cited "Change the Beat" (1982) by Fab Five Freddy as the most sampled track. Loleatta Holloway was named the most sampled female singer by The Independent in 2011.
The legality of sampling without permission depends on jurisdiction and context. American courts in Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records Inc (1991) and Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films (2005) ruled that unlicensed sampling can infringe copyright. However, VMG Salsoul v Ciccone (2016) found that some minimal unlicensed samples constitute de minimis copying and may not infringe. In 2019, the European Court of Justice ruled that modified, unrecognizable samples may be used without authorization.
The Amen break is a seven-second drum break from the 1969 track "Amen, Brother". It became popular with American hip-hop producers before spreading to British jungle producers in the early 1990s. It has since been used in thousands of recordings, including songs by Oasis and the theme for the television series Futurama, making it one of the most sampled sounds in music history.