On Wednesday, a U.S. district judge in Los Angeles dismissed the long-running lawsuit against Jay Z and his producer Timbaland over their sampling of an Egyptian song in Jay’s 1999 hit single “Big Pimpin’.”

In 2007, Osama Fahmy sued Jay Z (and a slew of associates), claiming that the rapper had sampled a 1957 song, “Khosara Khosara,” composed by his uncle, Baligh Hamdi, without his family’s permission and, according to the The Guardian, in a way that violated the (deceased) composer’s moral rights under Egyptian law.

Justice Christina Snyder ruled that Egyptian law did not apply in the case and that Fahmy did not have the right to pursue a copyright infringement claim, The Guardian reports, and dismissed the case before it went before a jury.

Jay Z and Timbaland had testified that they paid EMI Music Arabia $100,000 for the license to the sample of flute notes from the song.

“Fahmy lacked standing to pursue his claim. In light of that decision, it will not be necessary to submit to the jury whether ‘Big Pimpin’’ infringed ‘Khosara Khosara,’” Snyder said.

Fahmy’s attorney, Pete Ross, vowed to appeal, although the Associated Press reports that Snyder’s ruling will likely limit an appeal’s scope.

Photo credit: AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.