Following earlier reports on Jay Z's infringement case over his 1999 hit song "Big Pimpin" which featured flute notes from the song "Khosara Khosara" originally written by Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi, the judge dismissed the copyright lawsuit filed by Hamdi's nephew, Osama Fahmy.
US district judge Christina Snyder dismissed the lawsuit on Wednesday, October 21, before it reached to a jury in a Los Angeles federal court, stating that Hamdi's recipient lacked the right to push through the infringement claim against Jay Z and his producer, Timbaland, according to Yahoo!
"Fahmy lacked standing to pursue his claim. In light of that decision, it will not be necessary to submit to the jury whether Big Pimpin' infringed Khosara Khosara," Snyder said in a statement.
However, Fahmy's lawyer, Pete Ross insisted the ruling was 'wrong' and vowed to fight the case. "We think it's completely wrong, and we'll appeal." He said.
Jay Z and Timbaland on the other hand, had proven and testified that they paid for the song, adding that they settled it with a $100,000 full-payment amount to EMI Music Arabia for acquiring its license back in 2001.
Upon hearing the good news, Jay Z's team released a statement, sending in their delight on the outcome of the case.
"We and our clients obviously are very pleased with this decision. The court correctly ruled that plaintiff had no right to bring this case and cannot pursue any claim of infringement in connection with Big Pimpin' whatsoever," Attorney Christine Lepera said in a statement.
Jay Z's "Big Pimpin" is not the first song to be engaged in a copyright lawsuit, which goes down to the overlapping arguments about the rights on "intellectual property and western pop music sampling of the middle eastern music".
Just this year, a federal court jury had also ruled on the same case involving Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke for Marvin Gay's song "Got to Give It Up" linked to their 2013 hit single "Blurred Lines".
