Sonic Architect
I don't see the problem with sampling other people's work, as long as you are not just dumping a loop over some drums... I really don't see any artistic or production value on that!!!
On the other hand, taking a song and chopping drums, bass lines, riffs, etc thus creating a completely new track is definitely an art that requires both skills and knowledge...
I've sampled some old songs before, but the resulting sound is nowhere near the original track.
Personally I enjoy writing and programming my own stuff, just because it is a lot more rewarding as an artist to work on your very own creations...
To a certain extent (technically speaking), everyone that is producing with a DAW (Reason, FL Studio, Logic, etc) is sampling because the "one-shot" sounds (ie. Drum sounds) that come with those DAWs were recorded, chopped and prepped by the engineers & programmers that put the software together...
...Producers do own loops... almost every DAW out there comes with a shit load of loops... whether they use them or not is a different story...
Peace.
www.myspace.com/sonicparadigmshift