11. If I place hit songs on my website for others to download, but purely for sampling purposes, will I infringe the copyrights on those songs? What if I place only a part of each song on the website?
Yes, the placing of a hit song on your website without the consent of the copyright owners is an infringing act even if it is purely for sampling purposes (see section 26 of the Copyright Ordinance). Such an act does not fall within the permitted acts under the Copyright Ordinance (see section B).
If you place only part of a hit song on your website, your act will still infringe upon the copyright of the song if the part is a substantial part (assessed qualitatively but not quantitatively) of the hit song. Generally speaking, a part of a work will be regarded as a substantial part of the work if the part contains enough of the author's skill and labour to merit protection. A part of a hit song used for sampling purposes, which would normally the most popular or attractive part of the song, is likely to be considered a substantial part of the hit song.
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