On August 20th, a federal judge denied Bad Bunny’s request to recover close to $500,000 ($465,612 to be exact) in legal fees after the artist successfully fought copyright lawsuit involving an alleged sample used on his album from 2022 called Un Verano Sin Ti. Consequence reports that the dispute centered around “Enséñame a Bailar,” which samples “Empty My Pocket,” a 2019 song by Nigerian artist Dera. Bad Bunny’s attorneys maintained that the sample had been properly licensed through production company Lakizo Entertainment. The case was dismissed earlier this year after Empawa and Dera failed to meet court deadlines. Bad Bunny’s attorneys subsequently sought reimbursement for legal costs, calling the lawsuit “meritless from the beginning” and accusing Empawa of seeking an “undeserved, multimillion-dollar settlement” (Consequence).
In the ruling Thursday U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II found out that, “Empawa Africa had brought an “objectively reasonable” case and rejected Bad Bunny’s argument that the company pursued the lawsuit with an improper motive” (Consequence). Wright disagreed with this sharing that Bad Bunny has used the copyright material, and his attorneys allegedly didn’t provide Empawa with documentation proving Bad Bunny had permission to sample the work. This means that the attorneys for Bad Bunny got the copyright approved by Lakizo Entertainment and got the rights to the sample through the label directly. Because of this, Bad Bunny was able to allegedly use the sample with little to no repercussions. Wright said that, “The imposition of attorneys’ fees would send the wrong message to parties seeking to protect their intellectual property” (Consequence).
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