Bad Bunny and several other artists scored a major win in a copyright lawsuit against them, with a federal judge reversing a previous decision that allowed the case to proceed toward trial.
U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. determined that Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and the heirs of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson's claims over the use of the dembow rhythm from their '90s hit "Fish Market" did not meet the legal standards required to proceed, according to a Sept. 1 ruling obtained by USA TODAY.
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 sampling copyrighted recordings and compositions in over 1,800 reggaeton songs.
USA TODAY has reached
out to lawyers for Bad Bunny and Steely and Clevie for comment.
Bad Bunny's attorneys pushed back on the judge's previous decision
Last month, attorneys for Bad Bunny and additional defendants asked Birotte to reconsider his July decision that the case should be heard before a jury, arguing Steely and Clevie were basing their copyright infringement claims on a combination of musical elements from three different songs.
The "Tití Me Preguntó" singer's lawyer, Kenneth Freundlich, further said the two-measure pattern Bad Bunny is accused of copying was made up of two separate bars from "Fish Market" that are only used together in “Pounder (Dub Mix II),” a song for which Steely and Clevie do not own the composition copyright.
Birotte ultimately agreed, writing in his ruling, "Plaintiffs have failed to identify the copyrighted work embodying the specific selection and arrangement they seek to enforce."
"Without first identifying that work, the Court cannot determine the scope of the claimed copyright or meaningfully conduct the protectability and infringement analyses required by the Copyright Act," Birotte continued. "Because Plaintiffs have not identified a single copyrighted work containing the alleged protectable selection and arrangement, Plaintiffs cannot, as a matter of law, proceed on the theory presently pleaded."
While the decision ended a large portion of the lawsuit, the case remains open with additional claims regarding the alleged direct samples of Steely and Clevie's music.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bad Bunny scores major win in copyright suit, judge reverses previous ruling
