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Bad Bunny is asking a court to order record label emPawa Africa to pay $465,612 in legal fees – after winning a copyright dispute over the “Un Verano Sin Ti” track “Enséñame a Bailar”.
The lawsuit was filed last May by Nigerian producer Dera (Ezeani Chidera Godfrey). Godfrey claimed the song contained an unauthorized sample of a 2019 track he produced for artist Joeboy called “Empty My Pocket.” However, after Godfrey failed to appear at an evidentiary hearing on February 5th or meet a March 6th deadline to continue the proceedings, the judge responsible for the case dismissed the lawsuit on March 9th.
The missed deadlines and hearing date followed Godfrey’s attorneys’ withdrawal from the case in January, citing “irreconcilable differences” over trial strategy (according to Billboard). Godfrey’s label emPawa Africa was also dismissed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit in February because it had failed to meet deadlines.
Lawsuit “baseless from the start”
In a filing dated Monday, March 23, obtained by ROLLING STONE, Bad Bunny’s attorneys said the case was “baseless from the start and should never have been filed.” They argued that “Empawa filed and pursued it aggressively, apparently hoping that Bad Bunny’s wealth, notoriety, and desire to avoid legal fees and bad press would allow Empawa to extract an undeservedly large million-dollar settlement.”
The Puerto Rican artist’s legal team reiterated that the sample was acquired with the permission of Lakizo Entertainment, which had temporarily distributed the song. The lawyers alleged that when the label was asked to provide evidence as part of the taking of evidence, emPawa Africa raised “baseless objections”, delayed and delayed – and finally “submitted an urgent application by its lawyer for resignation from the mandate and for Empawa to abandon the action, instead of hiring a new lawyer and responding to the evidentiary requirements.”
“When threatened with an imminent court order that could have forced Empawa to explain how it owned ‘Empty’ and Lakizo did not, Empawa instead chose to abandon its claims entirely,” Monday’s motion said. “The fact that the label has not found a replacement to pursue its claims after the withdrawal of its original attorney speaks volumes.”
Accusation of misleading the public
Bad Bunny’s team accused the label of trying to confuse the public about the singer’s “integrity” and the “true ownership of ‘Enséñame’.” His lawyers argued that without an award of the requested attorney’s fees, emPawa Africa “will suffer no consequences – while the defendant applicants have suffered significant harm – as a result of Empawa’s decision to file and pursue this baseless lawsuit despite the known facts.”
Bad Bunny is not seeking reimbursement of costs from Dera, who was also a plaintiff in the case. A footnote in the motion explains the reasoning: “The petitioning defendants believe that this co-plaintiff, Ezeani Chidera Godfrey, known as Dera, was not primarily responsible for the prosecution of the lawsuit and did not finance it.”
A spokesperson for Bad Bunny and emPawa Africa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
