Jay Z defended himself in a federal courtroom over a copyright lawsuit filed against him. The allegation of using a song without the permission of the owner which was filed by the nephew of Baligh Hamdy, a late Egyptian song writer.
Beyonce's husband claimed that he has no responsibility regarding the clearing of rights for the music which was used in his 1999 hit song entitled 'Big Pimpin'.' The rapper reasoned that securing copyright clearance is not his job. His focus is on making music.
Together with hip hop producer Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley who is also involved in the said lawsuit appeared at the U.S. District court in Los Angeles for the second day of trial of the case involving Hamdy's 'Khosara, Khosara' melody.
The 45-year-old record producer covered one hour and a half defending himself in front of the jury along with Timbaland. The defending party reasoned that they found the 'Khosara, Khosara' track after creating a rhythmic beat of Jay Z's hit song. They then decided to add the said track after they found the Arabic music CD which was labeled 'license free'.
"I'm thinking it's free music, free songs, and I sampled it," Timbaland said in his statement.
Jay Z whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter also stated that they did not fail to acknowledge to the music of Hamdy by putting credits at the bottom of the CD.
Timbaland even increased their chance of winning the case by telling the jurors that he paid for the copyright of the track. After taking the advice of his legal team regarding copyright claim, he then paid $100,000 for the license of the song.
"Legal just told me, 100 grand, and you're clear. I thought I was free and clear," Timbaland explained.
The amount was paid to EMI Music Arabia which granted him the authority to use the song. The complainant did contact their party first before filing the case which confused Timbaland.
