A federal judge ruled Wednesday (May 29) that a sprawling copyright lawsuit can move forward alleging that nearly 2,000 reggaeton songs — including hits by Bad Bunny, Karol G and dozens of others — all infringe on a 1989 song that allegedly spawned the called 'dem bow' rhythm.
The massive infringement lawsuit, filed by Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and the heirs of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson, alleges that their 1989 song, “Fish Market,” was the source of the disapproval. boom-ch-boom-chick, boom-ch-boom-chick percussion that appears in almost every reggaeton song.
In calling for the case to be dismissed, Bad Bunny's lawyers argued last year that Steely & Clevie's massive lawsuit “seeks to monopolize practically the entire reggaetón music genre for themselves” by claiming copyright control over “unprotected” musical elements.
But in the first main decision of the suit, judge André Birotte Jr. denied that move on Wednesday, saying it was too early in the case to make those kinds of complicated decisions and that Steely & Clevie had made a strong enough case to move forward: “It's premature at this stage to determine that the musical elements the claims are insufficiently original or indeed unprotectable.”
Specifically, the judge hinted that he might not be particularly receptive to such arguments when it comes time to rule on them. At one point, he warned that he “rejects” the idea that the massive success of a particular song could be used as a “double-edged sword” that would also invalidate his copyright.
“The court recognizes the practice of musical borrowing, and in doing so, cannot simply conclude that because the reggaeton genre (or the artists) have allegedly borrowed significantly from features of the plaintiffs' work that those features are now in fact common elements,” Judge Birotte wrote.
First filed in 2021 against just a handful of defendants, Steely & Clevie's lawsuit has steadily grown to cover more and more artists and songs. In the latest iteration, the duo's lawyers name more than 150 artists, including Pitbull, Drake, Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi and Justin Bieber, as well as units of all three major music labels.
Steely & Clevie's lawyers claim that more than 1,800 reggaetón songs with dem bow beats were illegally copied from “Fish Market” — and that their clients deserve monetary damages for them. Potential damages are difficult to calculate, but could easily run into the billions if the case is successful.
In Wednesday's decision, Judge Birotte also rejected other arguments by the defendants beyond the basic question of whether dem bow could be protected under copyright law.
For example, in a June filing, lawyers for Daddy Yankee and the major labels argued that the case was so massive it had become procedurally unfair. They called it a “shotgun plea,” filled with so many vague charges that “it was impossible for the defendants to determine what each was allegedly doing.”
But in Wednesday's ruling, Judge Birotte said he was not persuaded by that argument – and that Steely & Clevie's 228-page complaint had sufficiently made the case to satisfy procedural requirements.
After Wednesday's decision, the case will move to discovery, where both sides will exchange evidence, take depositions and seek experts on complex issues related to musicology. If the judge does not decide the case after discovery, the two sides will go to trial.
Neither side of the case immediately returned requests for comment.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/bad-bunny-reggaeton-copyright-lawsuit-move-forward-judge/