Jay Z & long time collaborator, Timbaland, showed up to an L.A. court room on Tuesday & Wednesday to testify in a trial surrounding copyright infringement over their 1999 hit collab “Big Pimpin’.” The two are being sued by the heirs of Baligh Hamdi, an Egyptian composer who created the 1957 song “Khosara Khosa.”
According to the Associated Press, Jay Z spent 90 minutes answering a series of questions and recounting his life, successes, and the creative process that led him and Timbaland to create “Big Pimpin’.” To prove his point, Jay brought out physical copies of his 1999 album Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter to show the juror the liner notes that credit "Khosara Khosara." “We have the rights as you can see on the bottom of the CD,” Hov told jurors.
Later, the Roc Nation mogul went on to explain that he thought the rights to “Khosara Khosara” had been properly negotiated after issues were raised following the release of “Big Pimpin’.” According to their lawyers, Hamdi’s family had been repeatedly paid for the use of “Khosara Khosara,” the song in which four of its 74 notes are repeated throughout “Big Pimpin’,” an Egyptian music expert claimed in court.
As the trial rolls on, we’ll continue to update you with the developing story as it unfolds. Peep some clips of Jay's arrival & departure from court below.