Judge blocks composition claims against Bad Bunny and other artists
U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. reversed a July decision and ruled that plaintiffs Cleveland "Clevie" Browne and the heirs of Wycliffe "Steely" Johnson failed to identify a single copyrighted work embodying the allegedly protectable selection and arrangement from the 1989 song "Fish Market." Plaintiffs had argued that the song supplied reggaeton's dembow rhythm and sought to proceed against roughly 1,800 songs by more than 100 artists. The judge accepted defense evidence that the contested elements were assembled from different songs and narrowed the remaining case to direct sampling claims tied to sound recordings, ordering the parties to propose a schedule.
Judge dismissed composition claims targeting roughly 1,800 reggaeton songs.
Context
A judge had earlier said a jury should decide whether many reggaeton songs infringed a 1989 composition. Plaintiffs claimed the song created the dembow rhythm. Now the judge reversed and limited the case to narrower sampling claims, and…
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