‘Despacito’ Under Scrutiny After Steely & Clevie File Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

Despacito, the song with the most-viewed music video on YouTube, is now under scrutiny after Dancehall label Steely & Clevie Productions filed a copyright infringement lawsuit alleging that several songs recorded by Reggaeton singer Luis Fonsi infringed on their intellectual property rights.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed in a California Central District court, the Puerto Rican, whose given name is Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero, allegedly recorded songs that contain original elements from Steely and Clevie’s 1989 riddim titled Fish Market, also known as Poco Man Jam but known internationally as Dem Bow after Shabba Ranks’ hit track.

The song Despacito, by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee, appears to have drum pattern elements from Fish Market, beginning at minute 1:00 to the end of the song, which had been done in a tempo slightly slower than Steely and Clevie’s Dancehall original.

The original version of Despacito has amassed more than 7.6 billion views on YouTube.  The song topped the charts in 47 countries when it was released in 2017.   It is also ranked as one of the most successful Spanish-language tracks in history and was the first Spanish song since the Macarena to top the Billboard Hot 100.

The remix with Justin Bieber collectively amassed hundreds of millions of views on YouTube.   It reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and remained in the top slot for 16 consecutive weeks.

According to The Gleaner, the Law firm Doniger/Burroughs will represent the plaintiffs Clevie, whose given name is Cleveland Browne and the estate of Steely, whose birth name was Wycliffe Johnson and who died in 2009 in New York at age 47.   Also featured among the defendants are Warner Music, Universal Music Latin Entertainment, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and others.

The riddim was released in 1990 and featured songs such as the title track Poco Man Jam by Gregory Peck; Father Crab by Johnny P, Tie me Down by Flourgon, Trailer Load of Girls by Shabba Ranks, and Dem fi Dead by Papa San.

Other songs were Proceed Gal by Mega Banton, Gal yuh look Good by Admiral Bailey, Bad Mind by Red Dragon, and Stamina Body by Mega Banton.

Steely and Clevie’s lawsuit against Fonsi states further that Clevie “is a world-renowned influential and innovative composer, musician and producer known for, pioneering the use of drum machines in Reggae” and that the late Steelie “was a visionary and innovative composer, musician and producer”, who together “formed the writing, musical and producing duo Steely & Clevie, and worked on numerous genre-defining projects”.

It notes that Steely and Clevie worked with a large number of high profile and internationally famous artists including Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, Gregory Isaacs, Ziggy Marley and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.

The complaint states further that Steely and Clevie “wrote and recorded the instrumental song entitled Fish Market and that the “recording and composition for the Song are registered with the United States Copyright Office”.

“Fish Market is an original work including an original drum pattern that gives it a unique sound that differentiates it from prior works,” it noted.

The complaint also pointed out that Fish Market riddim’s drum pattern, is the foundation for all the beats of the Reggaeton genre which was initially known as Dem Bow, after Shabba’s hit track, which featured on the riddim.

“In 1990, Mr. Browne and Mr. Johnson co-authored the song titled Dem Bow (roughly “They Bow” in English) with Shabba Ranks. Dem Bow was a massive club hit and garnered worldwide acclaim in the international reggae dancehall scene. Dem Bow’s instrumental (which is an alternative mix of Fish Market, based on the same multi-track recording) is iconic and has been acknowledged as foundational to Reggaeton music,” it said.

As far back as 2013, producer veteran music producer Winston ‘Niney’ Holness, had expressed grave concern that Spanish artists were guilty of infringing on the work of Jamaican artists and producers.

“These guys are making the money from our music. Reggaeton was made from a Jamaican single, Dem Bow. Every rhythm in Reggaeton is the same drum pattern of Dem Bow and mi neva hear that nobody collect royalty from that yet,” Niney had told The Gleaner in an interview.

“So these people make an entire genre from reggae music and get the major endorsements, while we don’t get much from our property,” the producer, who is also known as Niney, The Observer said.

Niney had also pointed to another act of skullduggery where he said Spanish musicians were recording Jamaican songs in Spanish without the consent of the original artistes, while paying no copyright fees, thus continuing the practice of the “international community robbing the profits of Reggae music”.

“When we make songs, Spanish people take it and sing it different, and we don’t speak Spanish, so we don’t realise. Because of that, the Spanish artistes don’t pay us royalties and it slips right under our nose. I think the Spanish owe reggae music millions of dollars right now. Songs like Murder She Wrote is in Spanish right now and I don’t even think Sly and Robbie know,” Niney had said.