Wilco settles over sample
For some reason, Wilco has decided to settle a lawsuit with Akin Fernandez, owner of an obscure record label in England, over use of a sample used on Wilco's 2002 "Yankee Foxtrot Hotel."

The sample features what are allegedly spy broadcasts made via shortwave radio. The one in question features a woman with a heavy accent repeating "Yankee...Fotxtrot...Hotel..." According to Fernandez, who claims to have recorded the sample off of the radio, he owns the copyright to the sample because he recorded it. However, Simon Mason claims that he gave the recordings to Fernandez in an informal deal. And while Fernandez admits Mason gave him some recordings, he claims that he recorded the one Wilco sampled. Confused, yet?

American copyright experts aren't so sure that Fernandez is entitled to anything simply because he recorded it off of the radio. "Copyright requires some amount of creativity by an author," said Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Jason Schultz. "Simply pressing the record button on your radio receiver hardly qualifies to me." He added, "If Irdial simply published someone else's recording verbatim, then under U.S. Copyright law, they don't own anything."

Nevertheless, Wilco has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to settle the case. Fernandez now claims that he has won a classic David-versus-Goliath battle.