Even though Jay-Z and his team purchased the appropriate licensing to use a reproduction of Baligh Hamdy's original song "Khosara, Khosara," one of the composer's children and an heir to the rights of his music, Osama Ahmed Fahmy, is pursuing a legal case, citing the fact that Jay-Z' team only had what Egypt deams "economic rights" to Hamdy's song and are only legally permitted to produce, perform or distribute the song "without alteration." The plaintiff states the Jay's camp have violated Egyptian "moral rights."
Jay-Z' team attempted to waive the case, but a California Judge Cristina Snyder believes that there could be grounds for pursuing it, as the U.S. has similarly nuanced look at musical sampling and copyright infringement. Judge Snyder stated that there will be further research into “whether the use of 'Khosara, Khosara' was outside the scope of the licenses at issue.” After all, "Big Pimpin" would definitely be less so, were it not for Hamdy's freakishly catchy score.
