Rapper Jay Z has been handed a legal victory after a New York judge dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit filed over an alleged sample in his hit Run This Town.

Executives at TufAmerica launched a lawsuit against the 99 Problems hitmaker in November, 2013, claiming he illegally sampled the word 'oh' from the Eddie Bo song Hook & Sling.

In September (14), the 45 year old asked a judge to dismiss the case and on Tuesday (09Dec14), Manhattan Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan tossed the lawsuit, ruling, "The word in question... is quite common", and then adding, "It appears only once, if it appears at all."

The judge concluded, "The relevant works bear no substantial similarity to one another. It would be impermissible to conclude that defendants are liable in this case."