For anyone wanting to understand the music business and copyright laws you can start your lesson here.
The heirs of an Egyptian film composer have been given the green light to pursue a lawsuit against Jay-Z. “The Hollywood Reporter” says a California federal judge ruled last week that Baligh Hamdy’s son has grounds to take legal action against the rap superstar for his hit single “Big Pimpin.” Osama Ahmed Fahmy has alleged that Jay-Z and his people did not have the proper license to sample his father’s song “Khosara, Khosara” when they created “Big Pimpin.” Fahmy claims that Jay-Z had “economic rights” to his father’s work, but notes that Egyptian copyright law did not give Jay “moral rights” to the song. Fahmy says Jay-Z needed permission from all of Hamdy’s children in order to put his spin on the tune.
Attorneys for Jay-Z have argued that U.S. courts don’t have subject matter jurisdiction over Egyptian “moral rights,” but the judge ruled that there needs to be additional fact finding to determine licensing issues.
