Things are beginning to take an interesting turn as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music et al have brought in a top Intellectual property Attorney to fight the Steely and Cleevie “Fish Market” copyright infringement case according to documents obtained by World Music Views.
The ongoing case which was filed in a California Central District Court by Cleveland Constantine Browne et al vs the ‘Big 3 labels’, and publishing companies as well as a plethora top selling reggaeton producers, writers and artist, got an application on Monday June 5, 2023 for New York based attorney Frank Scibilia to represent key defendants in the matter.
Scibilia submitted the application as a non-California resident Attorney to “Appear in a specific case Pro Hac Vice” representing Rodney Sebastian Clarke Donalds et al.
The highly accomplished Lawyer and partner at the law firm Pryor Cashman, will also be representing Sony Music Entertainment, Ultra Music, Universal Music Publishing, Inc. BMG Rights Management, LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Lous Fonsi, Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosada, Andre Torres, Justin Bieber and UMG Recordings.
The learned attorney has been on the forefront of digital music, intellectual property and entertainment, and has represented content owners on all aspects of copyright law – including litigation, licensing, enforcement, rights clearance and due diligence – with a strong focus on digital music issues according to his website.
In April a 33 page list of Reggaeton songs were brought into evidence to support Steely and Cleevie;s copyright infringement claims against the latin artists, producers, publishing companies and record labels. The tracks alleged to have infringed upon the 80s dancehall riddim “Fish Market” produced by the duo. The evidence was presented on the basis that they sample copies of the composition or simply copied the composition without permission.
Reggaeton King Daddy Yankee alone is accused of copying the Fish Market composition on over 43 songs including his 41x Latin Platinum hit Con Calma with Snow which interpolates Snow’s dancehall hit Informa.
Con Calma was the most viewed music video on YouTube in 2019, racking up 1.5 billion that year. The song currently has 2.6 billion views on the platform.
Brazilian singer Annita, who was just released from Warner Music after she ranted on social media about wanting to leave the label has 14 songs on the evidence list named Exhibit A.
So far 107 summonses have been served to defendants this year alone as the trial is set to get under way. Attorneys Jean G. Vidal-Font and Bradley J. Mullins, are representing latin superstar Juan Luis Morera Luna p/k/a Wisin and Drake real name Aubrey Graham.
Bad Bunny and Drake‘s MÍA which has 1.4 billion YouTube views has also been named as one of the songs that copied the Fish Market riddim.
According to the documents obtained by WMV, evidence put forward showed that the Grammy winning duo of Wisin & Yandel are accused of sampling the Fish Market Riddim on 300 songs.
This is one of the biggest US copyright lawsuit cases in the music industry with over 120 lawyers initially arguing for their clients including 7 representing Steelie and Clevie. If the case is won by the plaintiffs, the payout could surpass multi-millions from the big ticket artists, producers and record labels. The case was previously filed three different times; first in the California Central District court in April 2021, then resubmitted twice last year according to the court documents obtained by WMV.
Stay with worldmusicviews.com for more on the Steely and Clevie Fish Market case.
