Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber among musical stars facing copyright suit for using reggaeton’s signature beat
Rapper and singer Bad Bunny performs onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime show at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Is the signature reggaeton beat “boom, ch-boom, chick” protected by copyright? The producers of songs considered among the first in the genre have filed a copyright lawsuit against musical superstars including Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee claiming that, yes, it is.
Last week, U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California reversed one of his decisions in the ongoing suit and ruled in favor of more than 150 artists and companies named as defendants, according to the coverage by the New York Times. The decision threw out the most important parts of the suit, though the case is not over yet.
The suit was filed in 2021 by the producers and songwriters behind three songs from 1989 to 1990. The syncopated rhythm behind those songs has been pivotal in the development of reggaeton, a mix of reggae and hip-hop.
The plaintiffs argued that their beat, often called dembow, is protected by copyright. They claim that the beat has been copied thousands of times, without permission or payment, by other artists and are seeking unspecified damages in the case, according to the New York Times.
The case has drawn wide scrutiny in the music industry and copyright circles for the breadth of the plaintiffs’ claim and the possibility that, if successful, a small number of people could effectively “stake monopolistic control over the reggaeton genre,” as lawyers for the defendants wrote in court papers.
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