Osama Ahmed Fahmy previously claimed they illegally used part of his late uncle Baligh Hamdy's 1957 composition Khosara, Khosara in the 2000 chart smash.
- June 1, 2018
AceShowbiz - Jay-Z has scored another legal victory in a copyright infringement battle over his song Big Pimpin' after an appeals court sided with the rapper.
The 99 Problems hitmaker and producer Timbaland were slapped with a copyright infringement suit in 2007, when Osama Ahmed Fahmy claimed they illegally used part of his late uncle Baligh Hamdy's 1957 composition Khosara, Khosara in the 2000 chart smash.
A Los Angeles judges twice ruled in the defendants' favour, most recently in October, 2015, when U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder cut the trial short and declared Fahmy lacked the legal standing to pursue his claims, because he gave up his rights when he agreed to license the track to record labels.
However, Fahmy, who co-owns the rights to Hamdy's tune, continued to appeal the decision.
On Thursday, May 31, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Carlos Bea ruled Fahmy could not sue Jay-Z and Timbaland over claims he had moral rights under Egyptian law, which prevents "unauthorised fundamental alterations" to the composition.
Fahmy previously insisted he did not approve of Jay-Z's rhymes about money, drugs, and prostitutes, but moral rights generally aren't recognised in the U.S.
"Even in Egypt, Fahmy's moral rights would be insufficient to win him anything but an injunction," Bea ruled.
