Jay-Z tells court he was unaware he sampled 1950s Egyptian pop song
American rapper Jay-Z has told a jury that he was unaware that his 1999 track Big Pimpin had used a section of the 1957 Egyptian pop song "Khosara" without the owner's permission.
The rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, and his producer, Timbaland, are accused of using the song, written by Egyptian songwriter, Baligh Hamdi, without permission.
"I didn't think there was a sample in it," the rapper said, speaking to a Los Angeles court on Wednesday.
"Timbaland presented me with a track. I didn't even think about there being a sample."
When questioned about why he did not check out whether the song was copyrighted or not, Jay-Z claimed that he was simply too busy.
"That's not what I do. I make music," he said.
"I'm a rapper, I've got a clothing line, I run a label, a media label called Roc Nation, with a sports agency, music publishing and management. Restaurants and nightclubs ... I think that about covers it."
Timberland added that he had found the track originally on a CD of Arabic music with the label "license-free".
"I'm thinking it's free music, free songs, and I sampled it," he told the court.
Hamdi's nephew, Osama Ahmed Fahmy, originally filed a legal complaint in 2007, claiming that the rapper had infringed on Hamdi's "moral rights" due to the explicit nature of Big Pimpin's lyrics.
Fahmy said that Egyptian law required that the musicians should have obtained permission to use elements of Khosara in their song that celebrates a "promiscuous" lifestyle.
Khosara is "culturally significant" in Egypt and local law at the time gave no "blanket license to make derivative works that alter or add to the copyright," the lawsuit said.
"At the very least, regardless of the scope of the copyright license, the author is required to consent on a case-by-case basis to any alteration of his work," it said.
Fahmy is now seeking greater payout from Jay-Z and Timbaland, with his lawyers saying they will bring experts to assess the economic impact of Big Pimpin' from the sample.
Khosara, Khosara is "culturally significant" in Egypt and local law at the time gave no "blanket license to make derivative works that alter or add to the copyright," the lawsuit said.
"At the very least, regardless of the scope of the copyright license, the author is required to consent on a case-by-case basis to any alteration of his work," it said.
Fahmy is seeking a greater payout from Jay Z and Timbaland, with his lawyers saying they will bring experts to assess the economic impact of Big Pimpin' from the sample.
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egyptian-heir-takes-jay-z-big-pimpin-trial-1366744517#sthash.JnFomrc2.dpufTimbaland's lawyer, Christine Lepera, accused Fahmy of attempting to profit from Jay-Z, whose personal wealth is estimated at $816mn by Forbes.
Among the most famous renditions of "Khosara" was that by Egyptian pop star Abdel Halim Hafez:
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