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Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Jay Z Wins Copyright Trial Over ‘Big Pimpin’ Sample
Jay Z (photo via Facebook)
Jay Z and Timbaland won a lawsuit on Wednesday over an Egyptian sample that’s used in “Big Pimpin’,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A judge in Los Angeles ruled that Osama Fahmy, nephew of composer Baligh Hamdi, lacked standing to pursue the claim that Jay Z and Timbaland illicitly sampled his uncle’s song “Khosara Khosara.”
Fahmy argued that the Egyptian concept of “moral rights” applied to Jay Z’s license for “Khosara Khosara” and required the rapper, Timbaland, and their record label to get Hamdi’s family’s permission to sample it.
However, Jay Z and Timbaland claimed that Fahmy could only hold moral rights in Egypt, where a license they received from EMI in 2001 specifically excluded its use.
Listen to “Big Pimpin'” and “Khosara Khosara” below.
Related: The Samples Behind Nas’ Classics
