Are laws on sampling being relaxed?

Earlier this week, Kraftwerk's Ralf Hutter lost a two-decade fight against copyright infringement in the German Courts.

The musician had sued producer Moses Pelham, saying he sampled Kraftwerk's Metal on Metal without permission. But the court found the impact on Kraftwerk did not outweigh "artistic freedom".

Subsequently, Madonna was cleared of copyright infringement in a US court, after sampling a brief snatch of brass on her number one hit Vogue.

So, does this mean the laws on sampling and copyright are being relaxed? BBC Music's Mark Savage takes a look.