Reggaetón’s Foundation Faces Jury Trial
A U.S. federal judge has declined to dismiss a sprawling copyright lawsuit alleging that the foundational "dembow" rhythm—a staple of modern reggaetón—was illegally sampled from a 1989 track. U.S.
The Claim: Ownership of a Genre’s Pulse
The litigation centers on the 1989 track “Fish Market” by Steely & Clevie (Wycliffe Johnson and Cleveland Browne). The plaintiffs allege that the “dembow” rhythm—a specific percussion pattern characterized by the sequence “boom-ch-boom-chick”—is a protected musical composition that has been sampled without authorization in nearly 2,000 songs.
According to court filings reported by Billboard, the lawsuit names a massive roster of high-profile defendants, including Drake, Pitbull, Luis Fonsi, and Justin Bieber, alongside major music labels. The plaintiffs argue that the rhythm constitutes an original creative work, and its widespread use across the Latin music industry represents a massive, ongoing copyright infringement.
The Defense: Rhythms as Musical Building Blocks
The defendants have maintained that the dembow rhythm is not eligible for copyright protection. In legal filings, their counsel argues that the rhythmic pattern is too basic, functional, and ubiquitous to be owned by any single party. They contend that the beat “exists in countless prior works,” making it a building block of music rather than a proprietary composition.
The court’s refusal to rule now forces the parties into a discovery phase, which legal analysts expect to be both time-consuming and expensive given the sheer number of tracks and artists involved.
Legal Precedent and Industry Exposure
The case is now headed toward a trial, though the procedural hurdle may shift the dynamics of the dispute. Industry observers suggest that the high costs associated with discovery and a full-scale jury trial could pressure the defendants to pursue a settlement.
If the case proceeds to trial, it could set a significant legal precedent for the music industry regarding the protectability of rhythmic patterns. Because the rhythm is considered a “sonic signpost” for the genre, a ruling in favor of Steely & Clevie could impact thousands of existing tracks and influence how producers clear samples for future reggaetón music.
A Broader Wave of Copyright Litigation
The dembow case is part of a wave of high-profile music copyright disputes currently moving through the courts. Other recent legal outcomes include:
- Taylor Swift: A federal judge dismissed a copyright lawsuit filed by a Florida poet who alleged that Swift’s lyrics were stolen from her self-published works.
- Beyoncé: Parkwood Entertainment successfully defeated a copyright claim involving an EDM sample used in the Renaissance track “Alien Superstar.”
- Jermaine Dupri: The producer has initiated a lawsuit against Sony Music, alleging the company owes more than $18 million in unpaid royalties for catalog hits by artists such as Usher and Mariah Carey.
- Suno: The AI music generator is facing a new copyright lawsuit from the licensing library Jamendo, which alleges the platform used its library to train its generative models without permission.
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