Jay Z attends start of trial over 1999 hit “Big Pimpin’ “

But there are a few key differences which make Jay Z’s court appearance less controversial than Pharrell’s. In March, the heirs of late soul singer Marvin Gaye successfully sued artists Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for $7.4 million for plagiarizing Gaye in their hit “Blurred Lines”. The case is still going through the courts.

Ross… accused the men of violating Hamdi’s “moral rights”, a legal concept he said is well-established in Egypt that would have required them to get permission to use elements of “Khosara Khosara” in a song celebrating a promiscuous lifestyle.

Image caption Big Pimpin’ appears on Jay Z’s album Vol. 3…

Lawyers for Carter and Timbaland, who also features in the song, say they secured the appropriate rights.

Their lawyers said Timbaland used the sample without realising it was owned by EMI Music Arabia but later paid $100,000 (£65,000) to EMI Music Arabia to get the rights to use it.

Released on Jay Z’s fourth album: Vol 3…Life And Times of S. Carter, the track opens with a flute sample from Hamdi’s ballad as the rapper declares: “It’s big pimpin”, baby’.

According to BBC, Hamdi’s nephew, Osama Ahmed Fahmy, has stuck with the case since first filing the lawsuit in 2007.

However, Fahmy’s attorney Peter Ross told the court the lyrics were the very reason why Carter avoided asking for permission before using Khosara Khosara.

The rapper later revealed that he regretted the song’s lyrics. Judge Christina Snyder is said to have ruled in the musician’s favour, telling the eight-member jury that his lyrics are irrelevant to the case.