Bad Bunny sued for copyrights for their success “Safaera”

The company AOM Music , owner of the rights to the musical works of DJ Playero, filed the lawsuit that also includes Tainy, Jowell and Randy , Ñengo Flow and DJ Urba The urban exponent Bad Bunny was sued this week for an alleged violation of copyright of three works produced by DJ Playero, by the company AOM Music for the song “Safaera” that are included in their album “ YHLQMDLG ”. The lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles jurisdiction in the Central District Court of California for an alleged direct violation of the copyrights of the work by Pedro Torruellas, known in the entertainment world as DJ Playero and who is one of the pioneers of the urban genre, was not only filed against the famous Puerto Rican rag, but also included all those who worked with the theme “ Safaera ”. AOM Music included in the lawsuit the urban artists Tainy, (Marcos Masis), Jowell, (Joel Muñoz), Randy, (Randy Ariel Ortiz) Ñengo Flow, (Edwin Rosa) DJ Urba (Ormani Pérez), Rimas Entertainment, CD Music Group and EMI Blackwood Music, among other labels. The lawsuit establishes that there is an alleged violation of copyright in the three musical works “Besa tu cuerpo”, “Chocha con bicho” and “Keep dancing” attached to the collective work of DJ Playero that are not authorized to be used in the theme ” Safaera ”, for which no license or authorization was obtained. The company AOM Music is the owner of the copyright of these songs, after acquiring them from BM Records. BM Records is the corporation organized under Florida law that represented these musical themes in the 1990s and was one of the first record labels to popularize the nascent “underground”. BM Records was founded in 1978 by Pedro Merced and eventually became one of the largest and most influential record labels in Puerto Rico’s history, selling more than 65 million records in multiple territories, the lawsuit stipulates. In 1991, Pedro Merced approached DJ Playero on behalf of BM Records, and the parties entered into a distribution agreement. In 1992, BM Records released “Playero 37 Underground”, with “Besa tu cuerpo” and “Chocha con bicho”. In 1996, DJ Playero released “Keep dancing”. The application contains a comparison of the verses and refrains used in the songs of DJ Playero, specifically in the work of “Playero 37 Undergruound” in contrast to the composition of “Safaera”. In the comparison of the stanzas, the same phrases are established in the theme “Kiss your body” and in the other two themes there are exact verses or with some word omitted or changed, as stipulated in the legal document. The lawsuit in turn establishes that Benito Ocasio Martínez, known as Bad Bunny “is a Puerto Rican reggaeton artist who achieved success at the top of the charts with his second studio album,“ YHLQMDLG, ”becoming the best-selling Latin album. in the United States of 2020, the most played album on Spotify worldwide of 2020 and winner of Best Latin Pop or Urban Album in the last edition of the Grammy Awards, which took place on March 14, 2021. AOM Music’s claim includes compensation for damages, including actual damages and restitution of any and all profits and advantages obtained by the defendants in relation to “Safaera”. The defendant requests in a first claim for direct violation of copyright, compensation for damages in the amount of up to $ 150,000 for each infringing work. In the same way, the defendant requests a temporary, preliminary and permanent judicial order, which prohibits the continuous infringement of the works of DJ Playero during the validity of the copyright. The defendant, represented by the Johnson and Johnson law firm in California, alleges a second claim for taxable copyright infringement and requests the same amount of up to $ 150,000 for each infringing work, at the time of trial and payments of fee.The case was assigned to Judge John E. McDermott of the Central District Court of California.