Cyrus Langhorne
Music mogul Jay Z and producer Timbaland may finally take a deep breath after engaging in a legal war over their hit “Big Pimpin'” song last fall.
According to reports this week, the duo have ended up victorious against plaintiff Osama Fahmy, whose uncle composed “Khosara Khosara,” allegedly used in the hit song.
After almost a decade in court, Jay Z has finally won dismissal of a copyright claim brought over a sample used in the 1999 hit “Big Pimpin’.” A rather complicated and nuanced legal discussion, but the end result is that the judge is dismissing this case with prejudice. On the plus side for Fahmy’s lawyers, who have pursued this case for so long with hopes of getting a piece of the substantial fortune earned by “Big Pimpin’,” the judgment now primes the way for an appeal, which Fahmy attorney Keith Wesley previously told THR is the intention. (Billboard)
Initial plans were for the case to end back in October.
Testimony in the case will draw to a close on Tuesday, and then it will be up to an eight-person jury to wade through a complicated series of contracts, correspondence and agreements that span three continents. They’ve heard directly from Jay Z and Timbaland, who explained how “Big Pimpin’ ” came together and why they believe they have the right to use the “Khosara Khosara” notes. (Voice of America)
Young Hov’s court battle with the heir of an Egyptian composer’s 1957 flute sample started up last October in Los Angeles.
Osama Ahmed Fahmy alleges that the rapper — whose real name Shawn Carter — had no legal right to sample the flute passage, which he claims was lifted from a song composed by his late uncle, Baligh Hamdy, according to the suit. Jay-Z’s 2000 hit opens with the flute sample, which is used as a musical hook throughout the song. (My News LA)
August reports projected an October courtroom battle would go down this fall.
The lawsuit dates from producer Timbaland’s use of a snippet from late Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi’s “Khosara, Khosara,” which he paid $100,000 to license from EMI Arabia. But in a twist that has made this one of the longest currently active lawsuits in the United States, it turns out EMI Arabia itself was licensing the composition from the Egyptian record label Sout el Phan. (Vulture)
