Over two years after an Afrobeats artist accused Bad Bunny of not crediting him on a song, a lawsuit has finally been filed over the situation.
Back in February 2023, Mr. Eazi, the founder of the record label emPawa Africa, threatened Bad Bunny with legal action for copyright infringement, stating that the reggaeton star’s claims that “Enséñame a Bailar” both interpolated and sampled “Empty My Pocket” by Joeboy, an artist on Mr. Eazi’s label, without permission.
For nine months after the release of the Album of the Year Grammy-nominated Un Verano Sin Ti, Mr. Eazi lobbied for proper accreditation without success, before taking his demand public.
“The team at emPawa Africa have attempted to sort this issue amicably since May of last year with our mutual legal teams,” Mr. Eazi said in a statement. “But the intent of [Bad Bunny’s record company] Rimas Music is clearly to blatantly appropriate young African creators’ work for their gain without attribution.”
On May 2, over two years after Mr. Eazi made the fight public, “Empty My Pocket” producer Dera filed a lawsuit against Bad Bunny, claiming that the singer’s team continually “stonewalled” attempts to give both Joeboy and Dera proper credit, Billboard reports.
“It is not very often that a musical artist of Bad Bunny’s caliber and sophistication uses someone else’s music without permission, and then ignores the person’s efforts to resolve the problem,” Dera’s attorney Robert A. Jacobs said. “Such a response is especially surprising when the unauthorized use pervades the entirety of the musical artist’s work. Unfortunately, these are the circumstances here.”
Bad Bunny’s team previously argued that the sample was obtained with permission from Lakizo Entertainment, which at some point served as a distributor on the song; the very prolonged battle between Lakizo and emPawa has been reported by OkayPlayer, with the song disappearing from streaming services due to that legal fight. Regardless of the arrangement, Dera’s lawsuit claims that Lakizo wasn’t at liberty to clear the “Empty My Pocket” sample.
“Despite plaintiffs’ cooperation, these defendants stonewalled plaintiffs after receiving the requested information, making clear that plaintiffs’ only option for obtaining redress for the violation of their rights would be through the courts,” Dera’s lawyers wrote.
