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Steely & Clevie Productions Take Reggaetón's Biggest Hitmakers To Court For Copyright Infringement
Steely & Clevie Productions' copyright lawsuit against Luis Fonsi, of Despacito fame, appears to have mushroomed into an all-out legal assault on
www.dancehallmag.com
Steely & Clevie Productions’ copyright lawsuit against Luis Fonsi, of Despacito fame, appears to have mushroomed into an all-out legal assault on Reggaetón after multiple lawsuits against some of the genre’s biggest hitmakers were consolidated into a single action.
The Jamaican Dancehall production house now has a plethora of Reggaetón artists, producers, and record labels in its crosshairs, all of whom, it is alleged, illegally used and benefitted from elements of their Fish Market riddim. Released in 1989, Fish Market is also known as Poco Man Jam, but is most known internationally as Dem Bow—after Shabba Ranks’ hit track.
Filed in the United States District Court, Central District of California, the consolidated lawsuit lists Cleveland Constantine Browne (Clevie), Anika Johnson – a representative of the deceased Wycliffe Johnson (Steely), who died in 2009 in New York at age 47, and Steely and Clevie Productions Limited as the plaintiffs.
Meanwhile, according to court records obtained by DancehallMag, the Reggaetón defendants can be divided into three groups, as follows:
El Chombo
+ Pitbull, Karol G, Afro Bros (Giordano Ashruf, Shareef Badloe, and Rashid Badloe), Juston Records, Ultra Music, Sony MusicSteely & Clevie alleged that El Chombo, a Panamanian Reggaeton artist and producer, infringed on the Fish Market riddim in his song Dame Tu Cosita, which featured Jamaican artist Cutty Ranks. At 4.1 billion views, the song has the sixth most viewed music video on YouTube of all time.
The Dame Tu Cosita remix featuring Pitbull and Karol G, which was released on August 24, 2018, and was produced by El Chombo and Afro Bros, is also identified as an Infringing Work in the consolidated suit.
Luis Fonsi
+ Mauricio Rengifo (El Dandee), Andrés Torres, Myke Towers, Ozuna, Erika Ender, Justin Bieber, Dyo, Stefflon Don, Nicky Jam, Sebastián Yatra, Pablo Arevalo Llano, Farruko, Rauw Alejandro, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd, Kobalt Music Publish Inc, Warner Chappell Overseas Holdings Limited, Universal Music, Sony MusicPuerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi is another primary Defendant in the consolidated lawsuit, with at least ten of his songs allegedly infringing on the Fish Market riddim. Some featured artists and producers of these songs are named alongside him in the suit.
The songs are:
1. Bésame— with Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers, and produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo (of Cali Y El Dandee) — is certified RIAA Latin Platinum in the US, with 38 million views on YouTube since its release in 2021.
2. Calypso— with British-Jamaican rapper Stefflon Don, and produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo — has 447 million views on YouTube since its release in 2019.
3. Date La Vuelta — with Columbian singer Sebastián Yatra and American singer Nicky Jam and produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo — has 151 million views on YouTube since its release in 2019.
4. Despacito — with Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee; produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo and co-written by Erika Ender, is the song with the most viewed music video on YouTube, at 8 billion views since its release in January 2017. The original song peaked at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.
5. Despacito Remix — with Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber — went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 weeks after its release in April 2017. It is RIAA-certified Diamond for sales exceeding 13 million units in the US as of 2020.
6. Échame La Culpa — with Demi Lovato and produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo — peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its release in 2017. The official music video has 2.2 billion views on YouTube.
7. Imposible — with Puerto Rican singer Ozuna and produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo — has 460 million views on YouTube since its release in 2018.
8. Perfecta — with Puerto Rican rapper Farruko and produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo — has 25 million views on YouTube since its release in 2020.
9. Sola — produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo — has 120 million views on YouTube since its release in 2019.
10. Vacío — with Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro and produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo, has 39 million views on YouTube since its release in 2021.
Daddy Yankee
+ Chris Jedi, Gaby Music, Anuel AA, Yandel, Juan Carlos Salinas Jr. (Play), Oscar Edward Salinas (Skillz), David Alberto Macias (Scott Summers), Francisco Saldaña (Luny), Víctor B Cabrera (Tunes), Carlos Isaías Morales Williams (Sech), Rafael Antonio Pina Nieves (Raphy Pina), Urbani Mota Cedeño (DJ Urba), Luis Jorge, Romero (Rome), Marcos Masis (Tainy), Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado (Ozuna), Juan Luis Morera Luna (Wisin), El Cartel Records Inc, Gasolina Publishing Co.Over 40 songs associated with Daddy Yankee have been identified in the consolidated lawsuit as having directly sampled one or more elements from the Fish Market riddim. They are:
1. Te Ves Bien — a 1995 song that appeared on DJ Playero’s Playero 39 mixtape.
2. Camuflash — a 1996 song that appeared on the Playero 40 mixtape.
3. Latigazo — a 2002 song
4. Cuéntame — a 2004 song on Yankee’s Barrio Fino album.
5. Dale Caliente — produced by DJ Urba — appeared on Yankee’s 2004 album Barrio Fino.
6. El Empuje — produced by DJ Urba — appeared on Yankee’s 2004 album Barrio Fino.
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