Reggaeton-Shaking Dembow Beat Lawsuit to Proceed After Judge Denies Motions to Dismiss

The lawsuit that could significantly impact the past and future of reggaeton music will proceed to trial as a judge denied the majority of motions to dismiss the legal action involving the oft-sampled 1989 track “Fish Market.”

The massive case, which consolidates more than 50 related lawsuits filed over the last two years, alleges Jamaican producers Steely & Clevie’s 1989 hit “Fish Market” originated the distinctive dembow rhythm — named after Shabba Ranks’ 1990 single “Dem Bow,” which used the “Fish Market” riddim” — that’s become a signature of reggaeton music. 

Lawyers for the duo claimed “Fish Market” has been copied or sampled in some 1,800 songs from more than 160 defendants — including Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Daddy Yankee — without credit or compensation.

Back in October, a federal judge heard arguments to dismiss the lawsuit, which the defendants’ lawyers cautioned could paralyze the reggaeton industry. While U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. expressed concern that the “Fish Market” lawsuit could stifle “creativity” in the genre, he did not immediately rule on the motion to dismiss. A decision finally came Tuesday, Courthouse News reports, with Birotte Jr. allowing for the lawsuit to continue.

Lawyers for the defendants had argued that “Fish Market” — as well as producer Dennis “The Menace” Thompson’s “Pounder Riddim,” which incorporated “Fish Market” and similarly frequently used by dembow and reggaeton producers; Steely & Clevie never sued Thompson — they did not have a copyright at the time of the lawsuits, and copyright for Steely & Clevie’s copycat “Pounder Dub Mix II” wasn’t registered until after the lawsuits were filed.

Birotte Jr.’s decision stated, “While it does not follow that a defendant inevitably infringes the ‘Fish Market’ copyright because the defendant allegedly copied ‘Dem Bow,’ ‘Pounder Riddim,’ or ‘Pounder Dub Mix II,’ the copying of material derived from protected elements of ‘Fish Market’ will constitute an infringement of the ‘Fish Market’ copyright regardless of whether the defendant copied directly from ‘Fish Market’ or indirectly through a derivative work.”

While the scope of the lawsuit and the amount of songs involved gave the judge some pause — i.e. determining which artists infringed on “Fish Market,” “Pounder Riddim” or “Pounder Dub Mix II,” and whether infringement happened at all in each case — Birotte Jr. decided it would be for a trial to determine.

“The court is unprepared at this stage to examine the history of the reggaeton and dancehall genres and dissect the genres’ features to determine whether the elements common between the allegedly infringing works and the subject works are commonplace, and thus unprotectable, as a matter of law,” the judge said (via Court House News).

“Maybe we do need a reckoning,” Scott Burroughs, the lead lawyer for Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and heirs to the estate of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson, said of the lawsuit at an October 2023 hearing. He also claimed that many of the defendants had no problem clearing samples from other artists included on their songs, so why should his clients be “left out in the cold.”