Not so fast.
If you're signed to a label that does business in the US; your distributor does business in the US; the artist you sample is a US citizen or if HIS label or distributor is a US company or does business in the US; or if you're actually selling your stuff in the US, you can wind up in US Federal Court on a copyright violation.
From what I have been told by my mentors, the Brits and many other European countries have similar jurisdiction rules as well, especially when it comes to copyright.
And if the laws in your own country are nastier in regards to a particular violation- then the company might decide to go after you there.
Its called forum shopping. International companies do it every day.
Its not the US or the Patriot Act you have to worry about. Its Bertelsmann, Sony, Universal, etc.
If nothing else- you'll wind up forfeiting your profits from the song with the unauthorized sample, like the Truth Hurts case, or the more famous Ashcroft/Verve v. ABKCO/Rolling Stones "Bittersweet Symphony" case.
BTW: The Verve REALLY screwed up on that album. One of the later tracks on that same album contains a HUGE unauthorized, uncredited sample of a song from Aphrodite's Child's 666 album. Aphrodite's Child, for the record, is one of Vangelis' early bands. Classic rock, even.
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