{"id":11156,"date":"2026-07-19T07:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T07:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/bad-bunny-wants-reggaeton-copyright-case-ruling-overturned\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T07:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T07:29:20","slug":"bad-bunny-wants-reggaeton-copyright-case-ruling-overturned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/bad-bunny-wants-reggaeton-copyright-case-ruling-overturned\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad Bunny Wants Reggaeton Copyright Case Ruling Overturned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tBad Bunny wants a judge to reconsider a recent ruling that refused to dismiss a sprawling lawsuit over the origins of reggaeton, arguing his accusers are citing a \u201cFrankenstein\u201d copyright.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ruling, issued earlier this month, said only a jury could decide whether reggae duo Steely & Clevie own the dembow rhythm \u2014 the boom-ch-boom-chick<\/em> beat heard in almost every reggaeton song. The judge\u2019s decision likely means years more of litigation in the massive case, which targets Bunny and dozens of other artists over nearly 2,000 songs.<\/p>\n

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\n\tBut in a motion Wednesday (July 15), attorneys for the reggaeton superstar pleaded with the judge to overturn that ruling, arguing that the case has a fatal flaw that had not been properly acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPlaintiff\u2019s supposed selection and arrangement does not exist in any single work,\u201d writes Kenneth Freundlich<\/strong>, the star\u2019s lawyer. \u201cThey have assembled a \u2018Frankenstein\u2019 across three separate songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe huge case, filed in 2021 by Cleveland \u201cClevie\u201d Browne and the heirs of Wycliffe \u201cSteely\u201d Johnson against Bunny, Karol G, Daddy Yankee and many others, claims their 1989 song \u201cFish Market\u201d is the ultimate source of dembow. But it also asserts ownership over two later songs called \u201cDem Bow\u201d and \u201cPounder (Dub Mix II)\u201d \u2014 both of which were allegedly based on \u201cFish Market\u201d and helped spawn the sound of reggaeton.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the ruling earlier this month, the judge said that only a jury could decide whether the dembow rhythm is copyrightable. But in Wednesday\u2019s motion, Bad Bunny\u2019s lawyers said it had overlooked one thing: that Steely & Clevie\u2019s alleged proprietary beat does not exist entirely in any of the three songs that allegedly spawned it.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe consequence of this omission is concrete, and it is not merely a case management problem: Plaintiffs are asserting exclusive rights in a supposed selection and arrangement that does not exist,\u201d Freundlich writes.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf the judge declines to review his own ruling, Bad Bunny wants an alternative route: The right to immediately appeal the ruling to a federal appeals court before the complex case gets bogged down in discovery and an eventual trial.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cResolving it now may appreciably shorten the time, effort, or expense of conducting the proceedings, especially where what lies ahead is an [infringement] analysis of over one thousand works,\u201d the star\u2019s attorneys write.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement to Billboard<\/em>, Steely & Clevie\u2019s attorney Stephen Doniger <\/strong>said it was \u201cdisappointing that defendants continue to push their false narrative\u201d about dembow: \u201cDefendants offer nothing new and no basis for reconsideration. We hope the court will quickly deny this motion.\u201d<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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