LOS ANGELES—Attorneys for Jay Z said in court on Tuesday the rapper had properly acquired the rights to an Egyptian musician’s melody to use for his 1999 hit song Big Pimpin’,as a trial in a longstanding copyright lawsuit got underway.
Reuters
Jay Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, and hip hop producer Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley are among the defendants named in a 2007 complaint by the nephew of the late Egyptian songwriter Baligh Hamdy, who alleged that the rapper had used his uncle’s composition without permission.
Jay Z, wearing a navy suit and tie, sat between his lawyers at the US District Court as he silently observed the afternoon’s proceedings. He is scheduled to testify today.
Jay Z’s lawyer Andrew Bart argued that the explicit lyrics of Big Pimpin’ should not be discussed in relation to the lawsuit, as a depiction of the words as “vulgar” and “disgusting” could prejudice the jury against Jay Z.
US District Court Judge Christina Snyder ruled in his favour, saying examining Jay Z’s lyrics would be irrelevant in this case.
Attorney Peter Ross, representing Hamdy’s nephew Osama Ahmed Fahmy, told the eight-member jury that Jay Z and his producers had purposefully avoided asking permission to use Hamdy’s track because they allegedly knew it would not be granted given the risqué lyrics.
The lawsuit follows another high-profile musical copyright case. In March, the heirs of late soul singer Marvin Gaye successfully sued artistes Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for $7,4 million for plagiarising Gaye in their hit Blurred Lines.
