New York (CNN) – Bad Bunny and other big names in the music industry are set to dismiss a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement on a 1989 song.
Attorneys for Freundlich Law representing Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit last Thursday, arguing that the musical elements in question are out of copyright.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for Jamaican reggae producers Steely & Clevie, alleges that more than 100 artists and record labels infringed the copyright of a beat in their song “Fish Market.”
For their part, Bad Bunny’s attorneys argue that the plaintiffs seek to “virtually monopolize the entire reggaeton music genre” by claiming ownership of the copyrights to musical compositions sampled by more than 100 artists in more than 1,600 songs. Bad Bunny himself is accused in the lawsuit of infringing the copyrights of 77 songs, the document said.
The underlying drum rhythms come from the Jamaican dancehall duo Steely & Clevie, consisting of Wycliffe Johnson and Cleveland Browne, who co-wrote “Fish Market” in 1989. The heavily sampled “Dembow” rhythm comes from a song of the same name co-written with Shabba Ranks, which is taken from “Fish Market”. Johnson passed away in 2009.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2021.
Bad Bunny’s attorneys allege that the characteristics cited by the plaintiffs, including rhythm, choice of instruments, and synthesizer parts and timbre, are the basic elements of the entire genre and that the elements potentially protected by the author’s copyright, such as the melody and texts, are not included in the plaintiffs’ case.
Another motion to dismiss the case was filed Thursday by the Pryor Cashman law firm, which represents nearly 90 defendants including Pitbull, Justin Bieber, Karol G, Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, Jason Derulo, J Blavin, Ozuna, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, Becky G, Rosalia and Diplo. With the measure, technical defects in the copyright claim are asserted.
That motion alleges that the complaint “reduces no facts to establish which works are actually owned by the plaintiffs and against which they have standing.”
“Plaintiffs claim ownership of an entire fundamental genre of music – the ‘reggaeton rhythm’ – based on simple, unprotected common musical elements that are nothing more than common one-note drumbeats,” reads another from WK Records submitted application. Pitbulls Mr. 305 Inc, Maluma and 11 other defendants.
In May, a Manhattan jury ruled that Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” did not infringe the copyright of the Marvin Gaye song “Let’s Get It On.” Pryor Cashman also represented Sheeran on the case.
Stars from Taylor Swift to Led Zeppelin have been embroiled in legal battles over their music.
CNN has asked the plaintiffs for comment.
– Lauren del Valle, Nicki Brown and Sabrina Souza, all at CNN, contributed to this report.