Jay-Z and Timbaland have overstayed their welcome, media have reported.
According to Billboard, Shawn Carter and Timothy Mosely, also known as Jay-Z and Timbaland, are now facing a lawsuit over allegations of stealing more than just a few clips for their 1999 hit song “Big Pimpin’’.” Osama Fahmy, an elderly Egyptian who is the nephew of Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi, is suing them for sampling the song’s flute notes that Hamdi composed in 1957 for the film, “Khosara, Khosara.” The suit was filed in a California federal court in 2007. However, on Oct. 13, 2015, the judge listened to the case.
Even though Hamdi died in 1993, reports show that his children are seeking compensation.
Timbaland initially used the sample not knowing that it was not made for public use. Fahmy’s lawyer, Keith Wesley, said he has not seen a case last this long, and they may never have a single answer of what to do. Timabland simply thought he would use the sample entering into an agreement with EMI Music Arabia. The agreement with EMI simply read that it had the rights to “Khosara, Khosara” in 2001.
Timbaland paid approximately $100,000 to EMI, which allowed him the right to exploit the song “Big Pimpin’.”
That money was distributed all over to descendants of Hamdi, but now Fahmy wants more. He expresses how
the families did not understand how important his sam- ple would be to the song. Hamdi’s family believes they deserve more money in the end.
Hamdi’s attorney explains that the artists and the labels never got the right permission from Hamdi’s heirs to use the tune. However, the pair’s attorney states that proper steps were taken in 2001 to use the significant flute notes.
No matter the verdict, these will not be the last musi- cians who face this horrible inconvenience, whether they are licensed or not. This seems to make the cost of producing music go up obnoxiously. But there has been a plot twist. According to Vulture.com, EMI was licensing the sample themselves without the permission of Hamdi from the Egyptian record label South el Phan. However, that agreement expired in 2006, and a year later Hamdi’s son came to get what seemed to have belonged to his family.
Still, no one is sure when the lawsuit will be over, or even how they will handle it. It has been reported that a trial will take place to come to terms.
