How 'The Last Time' by The Rolling Stones Changed Music Sampling Law

The story starts with a four-note string phrase from an orchestral cover of the Stones’ 1965 single “The Last Time” – specifically the version arranged by Andrew Loog Oldham on the album The Rolling Stones Songbook. The Verve licensed that recording for a sample in “Bitter Sweet Symphony” (1997). But the license only covered the actual recording, not the underlying composition. When the song became a hit, ABKCO – which owned the publishing – sued, arguing the sample was recognizable enough to constitute a copyright infringement of the song itself.

The result was brutal: The Verve handed over 100% of royalties to ABKCO, and Jagger and Richards got full songwriting credits – even though they had nothing to do with the sample. The case effectively rewrote the unwritten rules of sampling. Before, artists assumed a licensed sample of a recording was enough. After, every label and publisher started requiring separate clearance of the composition, and any recognizable snippet could trigger a claim. It’s why later interpolation – re-recording a melody rather than lifting the original tape – became the safer workaround.

Oddly enough, in 2019 Jagger and Richards voluntarily gave back the royalties, but the damage to sampling law was done. “Bitter Sweet Symphony” remains the textbook example of how one borrowed hook can create a legal precedent that chills an entire practice – and how a 1965 B-side ended up shaping the