Jay Z was sued over a sample in his 1999 hit, “Big Pimpin.” The song used a sample from a 1957 song entitled “Khosara Khosara.” The family of the Egyptian composer claim Jay Z and Timbaland did not have the rights to use the flute sounds from the song. Both artists claimed they thought they had the right to use the sample. Timbaland paid $100k to EMI Music Arabia in 2001 to to have the legal right to use the sample. The family of the composer plan on appealing.
Upon learning that flute melody in the track was a sample, attorneys for the rappers contend that they obtained the rights from EMI Music Arabia for $100,000 to play the song everywhere except in Egypt.
“I said, ‘OK, let’s pay 100 grand, we free and clear,” Timbaland recounted to the jury Wednesday. “Legal told me me, ‘100 grand and you’re clear.’”
Fahmy contends that only he or other heirs can issue a license, and that under Egyptian law, they can refuse to permit the use of a composition in a manner deemed objectionable, regardless of whether they had previously given up economic rights to the song.
via Buzzfeed
