Billboard is reporting Germany’s highest civil court has issued a landmark decision in a case involving sampling. The case stems from a complaint brought by German musicians, Kraftwerk, who sued German rap producer Moses Pelham for using a two second sample from their song “Metal on Metal” on the track “Nur Mir”, which was recorded by Sabrina Setlur in 1997.

On Thursday, the German court ruled that sampling music does not violate copyright law, overturning the ruling made by a Hamburg state court stating that the reuse of any portion of song, regardless of length, is a violation of copyright.

Sampling has been a key ingredient to hip-hop culture for over 30 years, but the use of samples in production has waned in recent years due to the high cost of sample clearances and an increase in claims of copyright infringement.

Wu-Tang Clan producer, RZA, recently told Spin Magazine he believes government regulation is needed to oversee the process of sample clearance and standardized fees should be implemented that would fairly compensate all contributors of the original work. He suggests that splitting the publishing revenue equally between the original contributors and the artist using the sample would make the practice of sampling lucrative for both sides.