Did Deep Forest steal the samples used in the first Deep Forest album?
After Deep Forest was released, Le Chant du Monde, the publisher of the ethnomusicological record series Hugo Zemp (recorded sample used in Sweet Lullaby) directs at the Muse de l’Homme, informed him that Deep Forest had, without license, sampled material from an African recording in the museum series. Le Chant du Monde pursued the case, eventually winning an out-of-court financial settlement from Celine Music. Noriko Aikawa, UNESCO’s Chief of Cultural Heritage, from the division in charge of their recording series, contacted Zemp in 1992 to seek his permission to license to Deep Forest samples from a UNESCO recording he had made in West Africa. Zemp was told that Deep Forest wished to sample several UNESCO recordings for a project in honor of Earth Day; UNESCO was willing to grant license for the samples as long as Zemp and the other recordists agreed, and if the source musicians and recordings were properly credited. Zemp listened to a Deep Forest extract over the phone and refused t
