The biggest US copyright lawsuit that is shaking the music industry is that between Steely and Clevie Productions and a slew of Reggaeton artist and producers. The case has been filed three different times, It was first filed in the California Central District court in 2021 October and had to be resubmitted twice last year according to the documents obtained first by WMV.
Now with a list of 56 Reggaeton songs in question for copyright infringement including: Luis Fonsi’s Despacito, Bésame, Calypso with Stefflon Don, Date La Vuelta with Sebastián Yatra, Nicky Jam’s Échame La Culpa, Imposible, Perfecta, Sola, and Vaciois and many others which are alleged to have original elements from Steely and Clevie’s Fish Market riddim.
Rights holders of the music, Universal Music Publishing, Warner Music, Universal Music Latin Entertainment, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, are also named as part of the suit.
“Fish Market riddim,” which is at the heart of the suit is a registered US Copyright to Cleveland Brown and Wycliffe Johnson based on documents obtain by WMV and conversations with Clevie who is the only surviving member of the duo. But the date of registration (2021-03-02) will be a major factor according to veteran New York attorney JoAnn Squillace.
JoAnn who has been a lawyer for more than 20 years litigating copyright lawsuits shockingly revealed to WMV that in her research she found that even another sample of the Poco Man riddim known in reggaeton circles as ‘Dem Bow riddim’ was not owned by the riddim twins Steely and Clevie and was not registered by the duo prior to 2021.
“What probably will also be an issue in the Steelie and Clevie Case is there is(was) no copyright of Fish Market in the United States(prior to 2020-21) and in order to sue, you need a United States Copyright of the song that you are claiming that has been infringed upon, up until 2021, by law that’s going to limit their damages because the copyright came after the alleged infringement. Thats one challenge for them,” she said.
JoAnn and her business partner Stephen Drummond Esq. filed a similar groundbreaking $300 million lawsuit against Miley Cyrus and got an undisclosed settlement back in 2018. They both speak with WMV about the current lawsuit filed by the Dancehall pioneer producers Steely & Cleevie.
“It’s a long time 1989 till now is quiet a lot of years, and in the world of someone taking, if between 1989 and now three other people took their work, and then later on someone took that work that was taken, you might have a challenge demonstrating that the final person who took it some 20 years or 30 years later actually took it from your original work and not from someone else,” said Stephen Drummond who was born in Hanover, Jamaica.
One of the songs on the suit is YouTube’s most viewed song “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi real name is Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero. His catalogue was purchased for USD100 million by HarbourView Private Equity, a company owned Billboard Trailblazer awardee Sherres Clarke Soares, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants who got $1bn from Apollo Global Management to invest in music acquisition.
“If Mr. Fonsi was an alleged infringer before he sold the catalogue then to named him for whatever time frame, whatever song, that allegedly infringing upon the riddim then that wold be a party that you would want to include,” said JoAnn Squillace. She continued, “If they did not include who currently now owns the catalogue that cold be a strategic decision because…if Mr. Fonsi sold his catalogue, she now owns his catalogue with really no wrongdoing on her end because she bought a catalogue form someone who was authorized to sell her,” said JoAnn.
“Its the plaintiff’s burden to prove their case and it’s their burden to prove their case. Part of the challenge is if the songs came out in 2004 and you are not suing until 2021 then you may be out of luck for the damages for the profits earned for a songs that came out long ago,” she continued.
There is no doubt that it was Steely and Clevie who made the Fish Market riddim and he told WMV that the classic 80’s dancehall riddim which has since spawned an entirely different genre was made out of a need for something new and as a result states that there is a hidden note built in the riddim. That note among other things is the subject of the copyright case that their company filed against several Reggaeton hitmakers.
When it comes down to the details JoAnn says, “One of the things you must prove is that the alleged infringing work is substantially similar to the original work. Under the law what’s permitted; I can take your work if I transform it is some way.”
“The other part is, if the alleged infringing work has been copyrighted and that copyright pre-dates your copyright, that’s also another challenge.”
-JoAnn Squillace
“In fact in researching the case there is a copyright for Dem Bow. Shabba Ranks Dem Bow is owned nay a record label, its not owned by Shabba Ranks, its now owned by Steelie & Clevie, its owned by a record label, and they are quick to protect because they know this is part of the business,” JoAnn said.
Watch full interview below with Stephen Drummond Esq. and JoAnn Squillace below:
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