Bad Bunny is the biggest global leader of reggaetón right now, a genre whose very foundations are under fire in a massive federal lawsuit. Billboard reported on his latest response to the copyright battle brought forth by Steely and Clevie, and Complex reviewed court documents that indicated Drake is in his past collaborator's corner.
For those unaware, this lawsuit against the Puerto Rican icon and many other artists (Daddy Yankee, Karol G, and more among them) claimed the dembow rhythm essential to the reggaetón genre use elements of the Jamaican reggae duo's tracks "Fish Market," "Dem Bow," and "Pounder (Dub Mix II)" without proper compensation or credit. The filing, which originally surfaced in 2021, could result in a seismic shift in sound and music copyright law.
A federal judge ruled a jury must decide whether or not this copyright suit is valid. That decision is one Bad Bunny wants to overturn. His lawyer Kenneth Freundlich reportedly argued there is no single song that uses all of the elements of any of Steely and Clevie's tracks.
"I think there’s no single work that contains all of the ‘Fish Market’ elements," he reportedly wrote. "So how do you reconcile that with the notion that we need to have a coherent pattern? It seems to be problematic." Freundlich called the plaintiff's attempts a "Frankenstein" across the three tracks. He argued they are unrightfully obfuscating the actual music in question and misrepresenting the general dembow rhythm.
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Bad Bunny & Drake Collabs
If the motion to overturn is unsuccessful and the ruling stands, Benito and his team want to appeal immediately. This would be to provide more time for the proceedings amid a heavily daunting task of comparing and analyzing over a thousand musical works.
Per Complex, other court filings feature support from various artists. This includes Drake, as well as Myke Towers, Wisin, Yandel, De La Ghetto, and various other Latin American artists.
Steely and Clevie's attorney Stephen Doniger reportedly provided a statement to Billboard. "[It's] disappointing that defendants continue to push their false narrative... Defendants offer nothing new and no basis for reconsideration. We hope the court will quickly deny this motion."
Bad Bunny has other copyright cases to handle, although those concern him rather than many artists and recordings. Given his collaborative history with Drake, this reported support should come as no surprise. They released "MIA" in 2018 off Benito's X100PRE, the "Loyal" remix with PARTYNEXTDOOR in 2020, and "Gently" in 2023 from Drizzy's For All The Dogs.
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