Jay-Z And Timbaland Wins Court Case Involving Their 1999 Hit "Big Pimpin"

Jay-Z And Timbaland Wins Court Case
Involving Their 1999 Hit "Big Pimpin"

BHR Hollywood Reports..........A judge on Wednesday dismissed a copyright infringement case against rapper Jay Z over his 1999 hit Big Pimpin' before the case was sent to a jury.

The suit was brought by Osama Ahmed Fahmy, the nephew of Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi, who was trying to sue over his uncle’s 1957 song “Khosara Khosara,” which is sampled in “Big Pimpin’.”

Snyder did not provide an in-depth explanation for her decision, but according to The Associated Press, she told jurors that she tossed out the case after hearing testimony from Egyptian law experts.

Jay-z

“My client is pleased with and gratified by the decision,” said Jay Z’s lawyer Andrew Bart.

“We think it’s completely wrong, and we’ll appeal,” said Fahmy’s attorney, Pete Ross.


Jay Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, also said he thought he had a valid license to use the flute notes for the song that became his first major hit single.

"My client is pleased with and gratified by the decision," Jay Z's attorney Andrew Bart said.

Jurors heard from witnesses who described contracts and copyright laws in both the United States and Egypt and music experts who offered dueling interpretations of how important the Khosara Khosara
flute notes are to Big Pimpin'.

The notes are repeated throughout the song, which is a raunchy ode to a promiscuous lifestyle.

Jay-Z And Timbaland 

Carter himself noted Khosara Khosara was credited on at least one of his CDs that Fahmy's attorney showed jurors.

"We have the rights as you can see on the bottom of the CD," Carter testified last week.

Ross has said the rap's lyrics are at odds with the love ballad that Hamdi composed, but Carter's lyrics were not an issue in the case.

lawyer Andrew Bart

 Jurors heard the beginning of Big Pimpin' several times and saw a snippet of the music video, but the song was not played in its entirety during the trial.

Snyder did not provide an in-depth explanation for her decision, but according to The Associated Press, she told jurors that she tossed out the case after hearing testimony from Egyptian law experts.

“My client is pleased with and gratified by the decision,” said Jay Z’s lawyer Andrew Bart.

“We think it’s completely wrong, and we’ll appeal,” said Fahmy’s attorney, Pete Ross.

This isn’t the song’s first brush with the courts—back in 2001, Timbaland paid $100,000 to settle litigation. Jay Z testified in court to the effect that he believed he had the rights to use the sample when he first recorded “Big Pimpin’.”