Bad Bunny rose to global pop star status following the release of his 2022 album, Un Verano Sin Ti. While singles “Tití Me Preguntó” and “Despues De La Playa” drew praise from music lovers around. On the other hand, track “Enséñame a Bailar” sparked a heated debate about creative ownership online.
According to documents obtained by Rolling Stone, Bad Bunny has been named in a copyright lawsuit infringement lawsuit centered around “Enséñame a Bailar.” In the filing, emPawa Africa’s Mr. Eazi accused Bad Bunny of sampling and interpolating “Empty My Pocket” by the label’s act Joeboy without proper credit or compensation.
“The team at emPawa Africa have attempted to sort this issue amicably since May of last year with our mutual legal teams,” said Mr. Eazi. “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.”
Back in 2023, the track’s producer Dera called Bad Bunny outline. “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 told Billboard. “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. 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.”
Although Bad Bunny has not yet addressed the new filing. When the dispute was made public his team shut down the accusation claiming to have “obtained with permission from Lakizo Entertainment” the song’s distributor.