Just read a story about a federal appeals court ruling that licenses for sampled music must be obtained before they can be used in another piece of music, even if the sample is "unrecognizable". The story is here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5944091/.

From a moral and legal standpoint, what does this imply for the skinning community? So far, the community has set its own rules and standards, but is that likely to change if rulings like this start to affect more than the musical arts?

My personal opinion is that this community is doing a good job of policing itself, and any intervention from outside groups or authorities should be resisted. This ruling should have no effect other than to generate (interesting) topics for discussion.

My background is that I am a consumer more than a creator. What little work I've done has been nothing more than adaptations of other's creatons, with their permission. I recognize that my opinion may be biased because of this, so I'm opening up the discussion to get a feel for what the "real" artists in the community have to say.

What do you think?

Jeff