‘Despacito’ Lawyers Respond To Copyright Lawsuit Brought By Dancehall Producers Steely & Clevie

On Friday, March 18, the attorneys for Despacito singer Luis Fonsi responded to Dancehall label Steely & Clevie’s Fish Market/Dem Bow copyright infringement lawsuit, pleading that they “have not engaged in any type of infringement,” that “there is no actionable similarity between the works at issue,” and by and large that they “deny knowledge or information sufficient to respond” to the majority of the allegations.

The lawsuit was filed in October last year in a California Central District Court, and later resubmitted on January 18 this year, according to the complaint obtained by DancehallMag.

The lawsuit alleges that several songs of the Reggaeton singer’s songs including Despacitio—the song with the most-viewed music video on YouTube—infringed on the Dancehall production house’s intellectual property rights for their 1989 riddim titled Fish Market also known as Poco Man Jam but known internationally as  Dem Bow after Shabba Ranks’ hit track.

Also featured with Fonsi, among the defendants, are his label Universal Music Publishing, Warner Music, Universal Music Latin Entertainment, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and others.  In addition to Despacitio which features Daddy Yankee, seven of Fonsi’s other songs: Bésame, Calypso, Date La Vuelta, Échame La Culpa, Imposible, Perfecta, Sola, Vacio are also listed as having allegedly infringed on the Fish Market riddim.

The Law firm Doniger/Burroughs is representing Clevie, whose given name is Cleveland Browne and the estate of the late Steely, whose birth name was Wycliffe Johnson and who died in 2009 in New York at age 47.

Pryor Cashman LLP is representing the defendants, according to their response to the complaint, which was filed on March 18 and which was obtained by DancehallMag.

The Pryor Cashman legal team denied most of the allegations “and aver that no response is required to the extent that the paragraph purports to state any conclusions of law”.

In describing the Fish Market beat, the lawsuit states among, other things, that the riddim “is an original work including an original drum pattern that gives it a unique sound that differentiates it from prior works” and includes the combination of instruments including a programmed kick, snare, and hi hat, playing a one bar pattern, as well as a tambourine playing through the entire bar”.

Supporting the case with transcripts of the instrumentals of Fish Market and Fonsi’s songs, the lawsuit said that the rhythm section of Despacito, Despacito Remix with Justin Bieber, and the other songs, copy original elements of the Fish Market rhythm section, including its original combination of drum and bass patterns.

“The musical backbone of Despacito and the Despacito Remix are substantially similar if not virtually identical to a significant portion of Fish Market…” it said.

In response to this, Fonsi’s lawyers said that the “defendants deny knowledge or information sufficient to respond to the allegations… except deny that all or any portion of the referenced composition and/or sound recording “Fish Market” is original or protectible and aver (maintain) that no response is required to the extent that the paragraph purports to state any conclusions of law”.

In their defense, Fonsi’s attorneys also argue that: “allegedly copied portions of the works at issue are neither original nor a protectable expression of an idea”; any allegedly copied portions of the works at issue lie in the public domain.

Historical Background of Dem Bow

In outlining the trajectory which led to the use of the Fish Market riddim by Reggaeton artists, the lawsuit noted that “in 1990, subsequent to the release and success of Shabba Ranks’ Dem Bow, Denis Halliburton aka “Dennis the Menace” replayed Dem Bow’s instrumental to create a sound recording of an instrumental that was used to record a Spanish Language cover version of Dem Bow entitled Ellos Benia.

Another song titled Pounder by the duo Patrick Bernard aka Bobo General” and Wayne Archer aka “Sleepy Wonder”, had a “B Side” to which featured an instrumental mix of Halliburton’s sound recording, and that “this instrumental has been sampled widely in Reggaeton and is commonly known and referred to as the Pounder riddim.

“The Pounder riddim is substantially similar if not virtually identical to Fish Market,” the lawsuit elucidated.

Fish Market was released in 1990 and featured songs such as the title track Poco Man Jam by Gregory Peck; Father Crab by Johnny P, Tie me Down by Flourgon, Trailer Load of Girls by Shabba Ranks, and Dem fi Dead by Papa San.

Other songs were Proceed Gal by Mega Banton, Gal yuh look Good by Admiral Bailey, Bad Mind by Red Dragon, and Stamina Body by Mega Banton.

Despacito

In addition to being the most viewed music video on YouTube, the original version of Despacito is certified Diamond Latin by the RIAA for sales exceeding 3.3 million copies in the United States.  The song topped the charts in 47 countries when it was released in 2017.  It is also ranked as one of the most successful Spanish-language tracks in history and was the first Spanish song since the Macarena to top the Billboard Hot 100.

The remix with Justin Bieber is certified Diamond for sales exceeding 13 million copies in the US.  This version also reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and remained in the top slot for 16 consecutive weeks.