Did Disney Use Virtual Riot’s Samples in ‘The Mandalorian’? (He Thinks So)
Musicians frequently accuse the entertainment industry of using their work without permission, but rarely is a conglomerate as large as Disney in the middle of such an accusation. Disney’s reputation didn’t stop Virtual Riot, or Christian Valentin Brunn, from pointing out that certain scenes from Disney+’s newly-released The Mandalorian television series sound oddly similar to some of his samples.
In episode two, there is a fight scene with a rhino, and Brunn thinks his “VR_Bass_D#_150_Darkness2.wav” is used in the background music. He plays it side-by-side with the scene. Listen below:
Brunn wants to make it clear that Disney is legally allowed to use his samples without his permission.
“For clarification,” he writes on Twitter, “nothing [is] wrong with The Mandalorian using my splice samples. They’re perfectly allowed to, and I love it. [I’m] just pointing this out [because] some people seem to think [Disney] needs a special allowance from my side before using my samples, which is not true.”
It’s safe to assume Brunn is happy about his accomplishment, listing “fun numbers for the end of the year.” In 2019, Brunn:
- Played 74 shows
- Took 128 flights
- Had two samples used in a major Disney TV series
