Drake, Bad Bunny, And Many More Artists Get Added To Steely & Clevie’s Landmark Reggaeton Lawsuit

Canadian rapper Drake and Puerto Rican Reggaeton star Bad Bunny are among the dozens of new artists, producers, and record labels recently added to the copyright infringement lawsuit brought by the Jamaican company Steely & Clevie Productions, according to court records obtained by DancehallMag.

The landmark lawsuit is one of the biggest and broadest copyright disputes in the history of recorded music.

It had initially named three primary artists, El Chombo, Daddy Yankee, and Luis Fonsi, in an 82-page complaint last year, but now names a total of 57 primary artists as Defendants in a 228-page amended complaint, filed in a California court on Friday (April 21). 

Drake has been named for his 2016 song One Dance with Wizkid and Kyla, and the 2018 song Mía with Bad Bunny, both of which allegedly ripped off the Dancehall drum patterns and composition from Steely & Clevie’s Fish Market riddim, released back in 1989.

The company alleges that 1,668 other Reggaeton songs have similarly and unlawfully “copied the composition” or used a “sample that copies the composition” of the Fish Market beat (internationally known as Dem Bow).

The 57 primary artists, and their featured artists, producers and record labels were listed in an exhibit attached to the complaint. They include:

• Drake, for One Dance with Wizkid and Kyla, which is RIAA-certified Diamond.
• Bad Bunny, for Mía with Drake, which is RIAA-certified Latin Diamond; and Vete, Solo De Mi, La Santa with Daddy Yankee, Safaera with Jowell & Randy and Nengo Flow, Ignorantes with Sech, which are all certified RIAA Latin Diamond; and 31 other songs.
• DJ Snake, for Taki Taki with Salena Gomez, Ozuna and Cardi B, which is RIAA-certified 4X Platinum; and 4 other songs.
• Luis Fonsi, for Despacito (Remix) with Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber, which is RIAA-certified Latin Diamond; and Échame La Culpa with Demi Lovato, which is 3X RIAA-certified Latin Platinum; and 8 other songs.
• Daddy Yankee, for Rompe; Dura; El Pony; Gasolina; Shaky Shaky; and 38 other songs.
• Jason Derulo, for Mamacita with Farruko, Love Not War with Nuke, Colors with Maluma, Goodbye with David Guetta, Nicki Minaj, and Willy William.
• El Chombo, for Dame Tu Cosita with Cutty Ranks.
• Enrique Iglesias, for Bailando; and 9 other songs.
• J Balvin, for Mi Gente with Willy William; Ay Vamos; 6 AM with Farruko; Bonita with Jowell & Randy; Safari with Harrell Williams, BIA and Sky; Ginza; and more.
• Jay Wheeler, for La Curiosidad with Mike Towers, and more.
• Jhay Cortez, for No Me Conoce (Remix) with J Balvin and Bad Bunny, and more.
• Justin Quiles, for DJ No Pare (Remix) with Natti Natasha, Farruko, Zion, and Lenny Taverez y Dalex; and more.
• Anuel AA, for China with Daddy Yankee, Karol G, Ozuna and J Balvin; Secreto with Karol G; Ella Quiere Beber; Amanece with Haze; and Ayer with DJ Nelson, and more.
• Becky G, for Mayores with Bad Bunny; Sin Pijama with Natti Natasha; Cuando Te Besé with Paulo Londra, and more.
• Cali Y El Dandee, for Por Fin Te Encontré with Juan Magan and Sebastian Yatra; Nada with Danna Paola; and Sirena, and more.
• Farruko, for Chillax, with Ky-Mani Marley, and Passion Whine with Sean Paul.
• Karol G, for Tusa (Remix) with Nicki Minaj; BICHOTA; EL MAKINON with Mariah Angeliq; and Mi Cama.
• Major Lazer, for Lean On with DJ Snake and MØ; Sua Cara with Anitta and Pabllo Vittar; Light It Up with Nyla; and Watch Out For This (Bumaye) with The Flexican, FS Green and Busy Signal.
• Anitta, for Downtown with J Balvin; Sim Ou Não with Maluma; Paradinha; and Terremoto with Kevinho.
• Maluma, for Felices los 4, Corazón, El Perdedor, Borro Cassette, Sin Contrato, Hawái, HP, and more.
• Nicky Jam, for Hasta El Amanecer, El Amante, Travesuras, and more.
• Ozuna for, Se Preparo, Síguelo Bailando, and Tu Foto, and more.
• Pitbull for, We Are One (Ole Ola), Hey Ma with Camila Cabello and J Balvin, Como Yo Le Doy with Don Miguelo, and more.
• Rauw Alejandro, for El Efecto with Chencho Corleone, Fantasías, 2/Catorce, Reloj with Anuel AA, and more.
• Ricky Martin, for Vente Pa’ Ca with Maluma, Fiebre with Wisin and Yandel, and more.
• Wisin, for Escápate Conmigo with Ozuna, Adrenalina with Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, Nota de Amor with Daddy Yankee, and more.

The Estate Of Producer Count Shelly Joins Steely & Clevie’s Claims

The court records also show that the estate of the late Jamaican producer Count Shelly, whose real name was Ephraim Barrett, has been added to the suit as a Plaintiff alongside the production label and its producers Cleveland ‘Clevie’ Browne and the late Wycliffe ‘Steely’ Johnson, who is being represented by his daughter Anika Johnson.

Carl Gibson, a Jamaican resident and the executor of Count Shelly’s estate, is representing the producer’s interests. Shelly died in August 2020.

The lawsuit alleged that Count Shelly had instructed musician Denis Halliburton, professionally known as “Dennis the Menace,” to perform an instrumental version of Shabba Ranks’ Dem Bow , which was produced by the late Bobby ‘Digital’ Dixon. Dixon had used the Fish Market beat from Jamaican vocalist Gregory Peck’s  Poco Man Jam , one of the 1989 tracks on Steely & Clevie’s original riddim.

Denis The Menace’s derivative work was called the Pounder Riddim. Subsequently, the Pounder Riddim was utilized to produce Ellos Benia , a Spanish rendition of Shabba’s Dem Bow, released on Count Shelly’s Shelly’s Records.

“For the “Pounder Riddim,” Denis Halliburton copied Dem Bow’s instrumental, sound, arrangement, and composition, including the drum pattern, the drum components, including the kick, snare, hi-hat, tom and timbales as well as the full bassline,” the complaint alleged.

The complaint also asserts that copying, sampling, or interpolating the Pounder Riddim is essentially copying, sampling, or interpolating the Fish Market composition, and that it was the derivative Pounder Riddim which has been sampled widely in Reggaeton.

The complaint noted that the Fish Market riddim was first released in the United States through VP Records before being released in Jamaica, and that Dem Bow followed a similar release pattern. The Pounder Riddim was created in the United States and released in 1990 by Count Shelly’s Shelly’s Records in New York.

Steely & Clevie said, in the complaint, that the Defandants’ alleged acts of copyright infringement were “willful and reckless.”

They claimed to have “suffered actual, general, and special damages in an amount to be established at trial, including but not limited to lost license fees and other economic opportunities related to Fish Market, Dem Bow and/or Pounder.”

The Plaintiffs are seeking an award for “all profits” from the Defendants, the exam sum to be proven at the time of trial.

They have also requested actual damages and lost profits, statutory damages and attorneys’ fees, interest, and any other relief the Court deems proper. 

Two weeks ago, Stephen Drummond, the Jamaican-born attorney, who represented veteran Dancehall artist Flourgon in his US$300 million copyright infringement case against Miley Cyrus, had encouraged Steely & Clevie Productions to put up a “tough fight” in the copyright infringement battle.

The New York-based attorney had said that after reading the complaint, he had concluded that the Jamaican label’s case, while very “challenging,” was “not insurmountable.”