diff --git a/src/WaveClip.cpp b/src/WaveClip.cpp
index 4e4d0c185620..0543d08eceec 100644
--- a/src/WaveClip.cpp
+++ b/src/WaveClip.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ drawing).  Cache's the Spectrogram frequency samples.
 *//*******************************************************************/
 
 #include <math.h>
+#include <memory>
 #include <vector>
 #include <wx/log.h>
 
@@ -311,7 +312,7 @@ WaveClip::WaveClip(DirManager *projDirManager, sampleFormat format, int rate)
    mIsPlaceholder = false;
 }
 
-WaveClip::WaveClip(WaveClip& orig, DirManager *projDirManager)
+WaveClip::WaveClip(const WaveClip& orig, DirManager *projDirManager)
 {
    // essentially a copy constructor - but you must pass in the
    // current project's DirManager, because we might be copying
@@ -1221,34 +1222,34 @@ bool WaveClip::CreateFromCopy(double t0, double t1, WaveClip* other)
    return true;
 }
 
-bool WaveClip::Paste(double t0, WaveClip* other)
+bool WaveClip::Paste(double t0, const WaveClip* other)
 {
-   WaveClip* pastedClip;
+   const bool clipNeedsResampling = other->mRate != mRate;
+   const bool clipNeedsNewFormat =
+      other->mSequence->GetSampleFormat() != mSequence->GetSampleFormat();
+   std::auto_ptr<WaveClip> newClip;
+   const WaveClip* pastedClip;
 
-   bool clipNeedsResampling = other->mRate != mRate;
-
-   if (clipNeedsResampling)
+   if (clipNeedsResampling || clipNeedsNewFormat)
    {
-      // The other clip's rate is different to our's, so resample
-      pastedClip = new WaveClip(*other, mSequence->GetDirManager());
-      if (!pastedClip->Resample(mRate))
-      {
-         delete pastedClip;
-         return false;
-      }
+      newClip.reset(new WaveClip(*other, mSequence->GetDirManager()));
+      if (clipNeedsResampling)
+         // The other clip's rate is different from ours, so resample
+         if (!newClip->Resample(mRate))
+            return false;
+      if (clipNeedsNewFormat)
+         // Force sample formats to match.
+         newClip->ConvertToSampleFormat(mSequence->GetSampleFormat());
+      pastedClip = newClip.get();
    } else
    {
-      // No resampling needed, just use original clip without making a copy
+      // No resampling or format change needed, just use original clip without making a copy
       pastedClip = other;
    }
 
    sampleCount s0;
    TimeToSamplesClip(t0, &s0);
 
-   // Force sample formats to match.
-   if (pastedClip->mSequence->GetSampleFormat() != mSequence->GetSampleFormat())
-      pastedClip->ConvertToSampleFormat(mSequence->GetSampleFormat());
-
    bool result = false;
    if (mSequence->Paste(s0, pastedClip->mSequence))
    {
@@ -1270,12 +1271,6 @@ bool WaveClip::Paste(double t0, WaveClip* other)
       result = true;
    }
 
-   if (clipNeedsResampling)
-   {
-      // Clip was constructed as a copy, so delete it
-      delete pastedClip;
-   }
-
    return result;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/WaveClip.h b/src/WaveClip.h
index 22c2c838332b..6a296291e4ae 100644
--- a/src/WaveClip.h
+++ b/src/WaveClip.h
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class AUDACITY_DLL_API WaveClip : public XMLTagHandler
    WaveClip(const WaveClip&)
    {
       wxFAIL_MSG(wxT("It is an error to copy a WaveClip without specifying the DirManager."));
-   };
+   }
    WaveClip& operator=(const WaveClip& orig)
    {
       WaveClip bogus(orig);
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class AUDACITY_DLL_API WaveClip : public XMLTagHandler
    // essentially a copy constructor - but you must pass in the
    // current project's DirManager, because we might be copying
    // from one project to another
-   WaveClip(WaveClip& orig, DirManager *projDirManager);
+   WaveClip(const WaveClip& orig, DirManager *projDirManager);
 
    virtual ~WaveClip();
 
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ class AUDACITY_DLL_API WaveClip : public XMLTagHandler
    bool ClearAndAddCutLine(double t0, double t1);
 
    /// Paste data from other clip, resampling it if not equal rate
-   bool Paste(double t0, WaveClip* other);
+   bool Paste(double t0, const WaveClip* other);
 
    /** Insert silence - note that this is an efficient operation for large
     * amounts of silence */
@@ -232,8 +232,8 @@ class AUDACITY_DLL_API WaveClip : public XMLTagHandler
    SpecPxCache    *mSpecPxCache;
 
    // AWD, Oct 2009: for pasting whitespace at the end of selection
-   bool GetIsPlaceholder() { return mIsPlaceholder; };
-   void SetIsPlaceholder(bool val) { mIsPlaceholder = val; };
+   bool GetIsPlaceholder() const { return mIsPlaceholder; }
+   void SetIsPlaceholder(bool val) { mIsPlaceholder = val; }
 
 protected:
    wxRect mDisplayRect;