Another song produced by superstar rapper Timbaland is in question,
as rap star Jay-Z and the producer have been hit with a lawsuit over
the single “Big Pimpin.”

Copyright co-owner Osama Admed Fahmy filed the lawsuit in Los
Angeles Federal Court, claiming that Timbaland illegally replayed
portions of “Big Pimpin” note-for-note, using a melody lifted from the
song “Khosara, Khosara” which was written by composer Baligh Hamdi and
performed by Egyptian star Abdel-Halim Hafez in 1957.

“Big Pimpin,” which is taken from Jay-Z’s hit album Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter also features Texas rap legends UGK and hit #1 in 1999.

Jay-Z, Timbaland, Linkin Park, EMI Music Inc. are among the
defendants named in the lawsuit over the hit single, which was also
mashed up on Linkin Park’s song “Papercut” on the EP Collision Course.

On August 3, 2007, a similar lawsuit was dismissed in U.S. District
Court for the Central District of California, when EMI won a summary
judgment in the case. Plaintiff Ahab Joseph Nafal also sued Jay-Z, Timbaland Productions,
Linkin Park, EMI Music Inc., EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. and EMI
Blackwood Music, claiming that the artists infringed on the copyright
to “Khosara, Khosara.”

Lawyers argued that “Khosara, “Khosara” was created in 1957 and was
governed by the 1909 Copyright Act and not the 1976 Copyright Act. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed because Nafal failed to join
all individuals with rights to the composition in the lawsuit, as the
1909 Act mandates.

Other copyright owners of “Khosara, Khosara” include Magdi
El-Amroussi, owner of the legendary Soutelphan (Voice of the Artist)
record label, which launched in 1961 and ironically, operates as a unit
of EMI Arabia. The original lawsuit was filed in April of 2005.