Bad Bunny Helps Defeat Copyright Claim That Threatened Thousands of Reggaeton Songs
The case centers on the boom-ch-boom-chick beat that became a foundation of reggaeton. Bad Bunny Helps Defeat Copyright Claim That Threatened Thousands of Reggaeton Songs Pedro Camacho
Bad Bunny and numerous other artists have triumphed in a copyright lawsuit that threatened a significant number of reggaeton songs. A federal judge overturned a previous ruling, dismissing claims of ownership over the dembow rhythm, the distinctive beat central to reggaeton music. According to a report by Billboard, Judge André Birotte Jr. concluded that Jamaican producer Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and the heirs of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson had not proven their copyright control over the rhythm.
The 2021 lawsuit targeted over 150 artists, including Karol G, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Drake, and Luis Fonsi. This decision marked a shift from July, when Birotte had ruled that a jury should decide whether the musical arrangement was protected by copyright. Bad Bunny's legal team then requested a reconsideration, arguing that the plaintiffs were asserting a "Frankenstein" copyright, which was pieced together from elements of three distinct songs.
Judge Birotte agreed, stating that the arrangement protected by copyright does not exist in any single copyrighted work. Bad Bunny's attorney, Kenneth Freundlich, told Billboard that the ruling eliminates a significant portion of the lawsuit, although narrower claims of alleged direct sampling of Steely & Clevie recordings still persist.
Written by urgent.news from Consequence's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
