Bad Bunny Scores Major Victory in Copyright Lawsuit

Bad Bunny and dozens of other artists have scored a major legal victory after a federal judge overturned a previous ruling that had allowed a copyright lawsuit against them to move toward trial.

U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. ruled Sept. 1 that claims brought by Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and the heirs of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson over the use of the dembow rhythm from their 1990s hit “Fish Market” failed to meet the legal requirements needed to proceed.

Steely and Clevie filed the lawsuit in 2021, accusing more than 150 artists—including Bad Bunny, Karol G, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Drake and Luis Fonsi—of improperly using copyrighted recordings and compositions in more than 1,800 reggaeton songs.

The artists had faced the possibility of the case going before a jury after Birotte previously ruled that the lawsuit could proceed.

However, attorneys representing Bad Bunny and other defendants later asked the judge to reconsider that decision. They argued that the plaintiffs’ copyright claims relied on musical elements combined from three different songs.

Bad Bunny’s attorney, Kenneth Freundlich, also argued that the two-measure musical pattern at the center of the dispute was created by combining two separate bars from “Fish Market.” According to the defense, those elements were only used together in “Pounder (Dub Mix II),” a recording for which Steely and Clevie do not own the composition copyright.

Birotte ultimately agreed with the defendants’ argument.

The judge wrote that the plaintiffs had not identified a specific copyrighted work containing the exact selection and arrangement they were attempting to protect. Without identifying that work, he said, the court could not properly determine the scope of the copyright or evaluate whether infringement had occurred.

As a result, the artists involved have secured a significant victory in the long-running copyright dispute.