Song Clearance Sheet
5 sources citedVogue
Dance-Pop1990s116BPM
UnconfirmedKey
More around 120 BPM → · More “Cleared After Dispute” →
Tempo/key via Deezer →
The verdict
Cleared After Dispute
Two real resolutions: VMG Salsoul’s sampling suit was dismissed as “de minimis” (2013, upheld 2016) — creating a genuine, still-unresolved circuit split with the Sixth Circuit’s stricter Bridgeport standard — and a separate 2019 appellate ruling in producer Shep Pettibone’s favor over royalties Warner withheld to cover its own legal fees.
Quick Facts
Released1990
AlbumI’m Breathless
GenreDance-Pop, House
LabelSire / Warner Bros. Records
ProducerMadonna & Shep Pettibone
More infoWikipedia → · Discogs →
Who you need to ask
The songwriters of record — Madonna & Shep Pettibone
Wikipedia → · checked Jul 2026
The current administrator — Not confirmed — Sire/Warner Bros.; needs a Songview/Discogs lookup
Unknown · checked Jul 2026
Has it been reused?
The subject of a landmark sampling ruling — the “de minimis” dismissal (VMG Salsoul v. Ciccone) that created a still-unresolved federal circuit split.
Do they allow reuse?
No standalone policy found; confirmed songwriters of record.
Who Owns It
Licenses explained →The two permissions you need, and who holds them
The song itself (the writing)Madonna & Shep Pettibone
A significant legal precedent — an unresolved circuit splitVMG Salsoul sued in 2012, alleging Pettibone had sampled a 0.23-second horn segment from “Ooh I Love It (Love Break)” (which he had remixed years earlier). The district court ruled on summary judgment in 2013 that any sampling was legally “trivial” (“de minimis”) — no reasonable audience would find the portion significant or even recognize it. The Ninth Circuit upheld this in 2016, directly creating a circuit split with the Sixth Circuit’s stricter “get a license or do not sample” standard (Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films) — a split still unresolved in federal law today.
A separate royalty-withholding dispute (Pettibone won)Even after winning the sampling case, Pettibone’s own “Vogue” royalties were withheld by Warner Music Group / Warner-Chappell, reportedly to help cover their own attorney’s fees (nearing $1 million) from a separate appellate dispute over whether Salsoul had to cover Warner’s costs. That led to an entirely separate lawsuit, with the US Court of Appeals ruling in Pettibone’s favor on April 18, 2019, finding Warner’s own indemnification-contract interpretation “tortured, garbled, and ambiguous.”
The recording (current administrator)Not confirmed
Receipts
Every public mention of terms, policy, or past deals we've found
The producer’s blunt take
Shep Pettibone has bluntly called the lawsuit “frivolous” and “just lies,” mocking the claim that new technology was needed to detect the sample — noting the actual waveform technology used had existed since the 1980s.
Billboard · read it →
Can You Use It for Free?
How to check PD →Is it public domain?No
Sample History
—
Times sampled
The “de minimis” sampling precedent (circuit split)
Covers
—
First flip
Who to Contact
VG
Madonna & Shep Pettibone (Sire)
The confirmed songwriters of record
What they'll chargeNobody's shared numbers yet
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Page history · 2 updates
Jul 2026Page created — full research (Research Queue Batch 24)
Jul 2026BPM/Key pending the automated GetSongBPM/Deezer pass