SAN FRANCISCO — This Christmas will be a merry one for a team of Nixon Peabody lawyers who secured a long-awaited victory on behalf of deceased rapper Notorious B.I.G.

Los Angeles-based partners Staci Riordan and Julian Petty won a complete dismissal of copyright infringement claims filed against the rapper's estate. The order issued Tuesday by a New York federal judge held R&B artist Lee Hutson, formerly of The Impressions, doesn't own the rights to a song Notorious B.I.G. sampled on his 1994 “Ready to Die” album. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan of the Southern District of New York did not grant Hutson leave to amend.

Riordan said her team felt “fantastic” about the win. Their motion to dismiss had been pending for 14 months.