Cyrus Langhorne
Music mogul Jay Z has one less problem to worry about these days after coming up huge in a publicized “Big Pimpin'” trial this week.
According to reports, a judge ruled in Hov’s favor Wednesday (October 21).
In court Wednesday, judge Christina Snyder found the nephew of Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi did not have standing to pursue the claim Jay Z and producer Tim “Timbaland” Mosley illicitly sampled his uncle’s song “Khosara Khosara” in the iconic hook of “Big Pimpin’.” (The Hollywood Reporter)
Young Hov’s court battle with the heir of an Egyptian composer’s 1957 flute sample started up last week 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)
Buzz about the lawsuit’s seriousness erupted back in March.
Fahmy’s lawsuit centers on the composition “Khosara, Khosara” from the 1960 Egyptian film Fata ahlami, which Jay Z and Timbaland (who is a co-defendant) turned into the unmistakable hook of the rapper’s 2000 single. Fahmy claims he’s an heir of “Khosara Khosara” composer Baligh Hamdy and sued the rapper for copyright infringement, also naming Paramount Pictures, Warner Music, UMG and MTV among the defendants. (The Hollywood Reporter)
