Can a rap song violate your moral rights?
That's what a group of California jurors will decide in the trial between rappers Jay-Z, Timbaland and the heirs of a songwriter whose song was sampled in the rappers' 1999 song, "Big Pimpin'." The song borrows heavily from the 1950s song "Khosara Khosara," popularized in an Egyptian movie of the same time period.
The heirs of the Egyptian songwriter Baligh Hamdy, who wrote "Khosara," level (at first in a 2007 complaint) that Jay-Z violated their "moral rights" when he used to sample in a rap song they say promotes unsavory behaviors like promiscuity.
Lawyers for the Hamdy heirs told the jury Jay-Z and his producers purposely avoided asking the family for permission because "they knew it wouldn't be granted given the risqu lyrics," Reuters reported.
While Hamdy's decendents object to "Khosara" being part of a profanity-laden rap song, lawyers for Jay-Z moved that any discussion of the lyrics to "Big Pimpin'" not be discussed in court in fear that it could prejudice the jury.
Song sampling in music has been experiencing legal hardship recently, with a federal court finding in favor of late singer Marvin Gaye's family after one of his songs was sampled for Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" in 2014.
While the Gaye family contested they wanted credit for Gaye's part in the song, the Hamdy heirs say their objections are purely on moral grounds.
They used it with a song that even by Jay Zs own admission is very vulgar and base, the heirs' lawyer, Keith Wesley, told the UK Guardian. They not only took music without paying. Theyre using it in a song that is, frankly, disgusting.
Jay-Z will take the stand later in the trial.
That's what a group of California jurors will decide in the trial between rappers Jay-Z, Timbaland and the heirs of a songwriter whose song was sampled in the rappers' 1999 song, "Big Pimpin'." The song borrows heavily from the 1950s song "Khosara Khosara," popularized in an Egyptian movie of the same time period.
The heirs of the Egyptian songwriter Baligh Hamdy, who wrote "Khosara," level (at first in a 2007 complaint) that Jay-Z violated their "moral rights" when he used to sample in a rap song they say promotes unsavory behaviors like promiscuity.
Lawyers for the Hamdy heirs told the jury Jay-Z and his producers purposely avoided asking the family for permission because "they knew it wouldn't be granted given the risqu lyrics," Reuters reported.
While Hamdy's decendents object to "Khosara" being part of a profanity-laden rap song, lawyers for Jay-Z moved that any discussion of the lyrics to "Big Pimpin'" not be discussed in court in fear that it could prejudice the jury.
Song sampling in music has been experiencing legal hardship recently, with a federal court finding in favor of late singer Marvin Gaye's family after one of his songs was sampled for Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" in 2014.
While the Gaye family contested they wanted credit for Gaye's part in the song, the Hamdy heirs say their objections are purely on moral grounds.
They used it with a song that even by Jay Zs own admission is very vulgar and base, the heirs' lawyer, Keith Wesley, told the UK Guardian. They not only took music without paying. Theyre using it in a song that is, frankly, disgusting.
Jay-Z will take the stand later in the trial.
