> In the UK, one producer sued the dance group MIAIRIRIS for sampling his work. Although the song was a top ten hit, he had no idea it sampled his song until a member of MIAIRIRIS mentioned it on the radio. It had been manipulated beyond recognition.

I don't think it's always a simple cut and paste. The article mentions Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You" sampling the Police, or The Beastie Boys sampling Led Zeppelin or the Beatles. You might listen to some of these songs and have no idea about the original. One time I was at a party and Kanye's 'Harder Better Faster Stronger' came on. I remember saying "I didn't know Kanye sampled Daft Punk" and someone replying something along the lines of "nah this is all original Kanye"