On verge of damages award for Shakira song, judge reverses course due to new evidence
Shakira. Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
A federal judge had been about to award damages in a high-profile copyright case over Shakira’s 2010 hit “Loca,” to a company that owns a Dominican songwriter’s work.
But on Monday, citing “a basic issue of fraud in the trial,” U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein instead ruled that the copyright held by Mayimba Music to “Loca con su Tiguere” was invalid, Reuters reports.
Ramon Arias Vasquez claimed to have written the song in 1998. However, the man on the cover of a purported 1998 cassette presented as evidence in the Manhattan copyright case was only 9 years old at the time, Hellerstein said. Other songs on the tape were created in 2008 and 2009 for a Dominican band, the judge said, which suggested that Arias wrote ‘Loca’ at roughly the same time.
Sony, which had been found liable for distributing the infringing song, brought the evidence to the judge’s attention.
Related coverage:
Reuters: “Sony says photo proves Shakira’s ‘Loca’ did not rip off Dominican singer”
