A court sitting in California on Wednesday threw out a case against Jay Z over the alleged copyright infringement of his hip hop classic, ‘Big Pimpin’.
According to the plaintiff, who is the heir of an Egyptian composer, the rapper illegally used a flute sample in the hit single.
The sample turned out to come from late composer Baligh Hamdi’s song “Khosara, Khosara,” composed for a 1957 movie, and Hamdi’s nephew Osama Ahmed Fahmy argued that Jay Z and producer Timbaland illegally used the sample without first asking permission.
US district judge Christina Snyder dismissed the case after a week of testimony where the rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, and Timbaland, whose real name is Timothy Mosley, testified that they were under the belief they had valid rights to the song.
According to Timbaland, they had paid $100,000 in 2001 to EMI Arabia, which said it owned “Khosara, Khosara,” for the rights to the song.
But Fahmy claimed that deal was irrelevant and that the rapper would have still had to seek consent for alterations to the original work.
Jay Z’s attorney, Andrew Bart, who commented on the ruling, said: “My client is pleased and gratified by the decision.”
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