Read this background summary of the Timbaland plagiarism controversy.

Basically, Mosley got off on a technicality.

Kernel Records Oy v Timothy Mosley Appellate Brief

AJE does not qualify as a United States work under § 101(1)(B) because at the time of first publication in 2002, Australia's term of copyright protection (the life of the author plus 50 years) was not the same or longer than the term of protection provided in the United States (the life of the author plus 70 years).

He also sneered about the work he plagiarised, and its artist, saying "Look at my face! I don't know who their faces are ... It's from a video game, idiot. Freakin' jerk," while the interviewer, radio DJ, Elliot Segal of WWDC-FM, laughs and sneers like a hyena.

See the full documentary evidence here.

So basically, if you're a famous American, in a contract with a big American record company like the Universal Music Group, you're entitled to copyright protection, but if you're a little guy from Finland who writes chiptunes, you're just a "freakin' jerk" that Americans can plagiarise from with complete impunity.

I bet "Timbaland", and the Universal Music Group, has a rather different opinion about those who download his music from the Pirate Bay, though. What a hypocrite.

Personally, I hope Timbaland goes bankrupt, then dies penniless and alone in the gutter.

What an evil bastard.

Meanwhile, I think this case really underlines the hypocrisy and indefensibility of copyrights in general. Just remember, next time you see a copyright © symbol next to a song, or frankly any copyrighted work, that claim to "ownership" is probably a lie. These plagiarists are getting rich off something they have no exclusive rights to, then sneer about it like a bunch of shameless thugs and con-artists.