Judge Dismisses Central Claim in Reggaeton Copyright Lawsuit

A federal judge has dismissed the central copyright claim in a sprawling lawsuit that targeted nearly 2,000 reggaeton songs and implicated some of the genre's biggest stars, including Bad Bunny, Karol G, and J Balvin. The ruling, issued on September 1, 2026, by U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr., found that the plaintiffs failed to identify a single copyrighted work containing the specific musical arrangement they claimed to own, effectively protecting the foundational "dembow" rhythm from being treated as private intellectual property. The lawsuit, filed in 2021 by Jamaican producers Cleveland "Clevie" Browne and the heirs of Wycliffe "Steely" Johnson, argued that their 1989 instrumental "Fish Market" was the source of the dembow rhythm that defines modern reggaeton. The plaintiffs contended that the beat's signature percussion pattern was used without authorization in a vast catalog of songs, creating potential liability for hundreds of artists and major record labels. The case named over 150 artists as defendants, with the challenged recordings including global hits like "Despacito," "Gasolina," and "Taki Taki.