Elissa wins lawsuit against Ziad Bourji over "Ana W Bass"
Elissa has won the lawsuit she filed against fellow artist Ziad Bourji and poet Ahmed Madi over the song "Ana W Bass." She took to Twitter to share her victory, saying, "The Lebanese judiciary is still in good hands with honest and honorable judges. The truth has emerged: 'Ana W Bass' belongs to me!"
She also expressed her gratitude to her lawyer, who supported her and helped her secure her rights.
Elissa had announced her intention to sue Ziad Bourji and Ahmed Madi last September, accusing them of releasing a pirated version of the original song "Ana W Bass" called "We Btir," even though they had conceded the rights to her. The lawsuit demanded an immediate halt to the distribution of the song and its music video, and a withdrawal from the market, with a penalty of $10,000 for each day of delay to be paid in cash.
Elissa released "Ana W Bass" in September last year and issued a statement confirming that Ziad Bourji and Ahmed Madi had infringed on the intellectual and literary property of the song, stating that they had ceded the rights to her.
Elissa insisted she had documents proving the illegitimacy of the release of "Ana W Bass" and pledged to take all necessary legal measures against the infringement. The statement described the song "We Btir" released by Ziad Bourji as merely a pirated copy of the original version sung by Elissa.
Ziad Bourji had previously revealed details of his dispute with Elissa after the leak of "Ana W Bass" in his voice and her subsequent decision to cease working with him in the future. He emphasized that he had initially prepared the song to be released in his own voice, saying, "When Elissa liked the song, I gave it to her wholeheartedly through a private verbal agreement before God between her and me. I intended to release the song in my voice because Elissa knew it was made for my wife and our wedding anniversary, and I planned to release it six months later."