Jay-Z performs on stage during the Global Citizen Festival concert in New York (Photo : REUTERS/CARLO ALLEGRI/FILES)
Lawyers representing hip hop producer Timbaland and rapper Jay Z told a court in Los Angeles, that the duo secured the rights to feature the chorus of an Egyptian melody written by Baligh Hamdi, for their 1999 hit "Big Pimpin."
The "99 Problems" rapper Jay Z, attended the beginning of a copyright trial, where he and Timbaland have been accused of using the melody of Egyptian song "Khosara Khosara" without permission from writer Hamdi.
According to the BBC the copyright case has taken years to be brought before court. It reported that Jay Z together and an expert on Egyptian music will take the stand to testify this week.
It was Hamdi's nephew, Osama Ahmed Fahmy who first lodged a legal complaint in 2007. Fahmy's lawyer, Peter Ross was quoted by Reuters as saying Jay Z avoided seeking permission, knowing that the request would be rejected owing to the risqué lyrics used on the track in question.
Ross had said during proceedings that the proper procedure to seek approval should have been "to go to the composer himself, or his heirs, play the work, and get his approval."
Fahmy's legal team accused the rapper of violating Hamdi's "moral rights" - as legal rights in Egypt would have meant that Hamdi would have been required by law, to get permission to use elements of "Khosara Khosara" in a song, which was about living a promiscuous lifestyle.
Timbaland's lawyer Christine Lepera said producers had paid US$100,000 to acquire the license from the record label, EMI Music Arabia, which owned the song, adding that the legal claim before court was an "effort to get an undeserved income."
The copyright case of the high profile musicians is only the second such case in recent times, which follows a federal jury ruling early in the year, that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams stole the hook off a Marvin Gaye song and used it in their hit "Blurred Lines."
Gaye's family were later compensated with a settlement of US$ 5.3 million.
