Judge Denies Bad Bunny Nearly $500,000 in Legal Fees in Un Verano Sin Ti Sample Case
The Puerto Rican superstar sought $465,612 after defeating a copyright lawsuit over a sample used on “Enséñame a Bailar” Judge Denies Bad Bunny Nearly $500,000 in Legal Fees in Un Verano Sin Ti Sample Case Pedro Camacho
A federal judge has ruled against Bad Bunny's request for nearly $500,000 in legal fees after his successful defense of a copyright lawsuit involving a sample in his 2022 album, Un Verano Sin Ti. U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II dismissed Bad Bunny's claim that the Nigerian artist Dera and his producer Empawa Africa pursued the lawsuit with improper intentions.
The lawsuit centered around the sample used in "Enséñame a Bailar", which was derived from Dera's 2019 song, "Empty My Pocket". Bad Bunny's attorneys had claimed that the sample had been obtained through proper licensing via production company Lakizo Entertainment. However, Wright disagreed with this assertion, emphasizing that Bad Bunny had used the copyrighted material and that his legal team had not provided Empawa with proof of the necessary permissions to sample the music.
The judge emphasized that granting legal fees would send the wrong message to parties looking to protect their intellectual property.
Written by urgent.news from Consequence's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
