Jay Z might have 99 problems, but the copyright dispute over his song “Big Pimpin’” is no longer one of them.
The rapper emerged triumphant Wednesday in a suit that claimed the hit 1999 single had improperly used a sample from the song “Khosara Khosara,” composed by the Egyptian songwriter Baligh Hamdi, the Associated Press reports.
The court’s decision ends a years-long dispute that began in 2007, when a nephew of the late Hamdi filed a lawsuit claiming that Jay Z and producer Timbaland had violated the “Khosara Khosara” copyright.
Timbaland contended that they had secured the right to use the 1957 song for $100,000. Hamdi’s nephew, meanwhile, insisted that the agreement wasn’t valid.
U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder made the ruling that the nephew didn’t have a right to the copyright claim.