Jay Z is heading to trial to prove that he rightfully used an Egyptian sample for his 2000 hit “Big Pimpin.”
Eight years ago, Jay was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit for using a sample from a 1960 song called “Khosara Khosara” for his UGK-assisted track. The producer, Timbaland, was given the license to use the song by EMI Arabia. The song was composed by Baligh Hamdy and his heir, Osama Ahmed Fahmy who filed the lawsuit, is claiming that EMI Arabia never had the rights to license the song to anyone.
Fahmy says that he gave the Egyptian record company Sout El Phan the right to license the song to companies like EMI Arabia but they could not license the song to anyone else without permission.
The trial is slated to begin on Oct. 13th. MTV, Timbaland, Universal Music Group and Paramount Pictures are co-defendants in the lawsuit.