Court Advances Carliz De La Cruz Hernández’s Lawsuit Over Bad Bunny Voice Recording

The Puerto Rico Supreme Court has given partial approval to a lawsuit alleging Bad Bunny used a recording of his ex-girlfriend’s voice without consent. In an 80-page ruling, the court found that Carliz De La Cruz Hernández can proceed with claims that the inclusion of her saying “Bad Bunny baby” on the 2022 track “Dos Mil 16” violated her right to control commercial use of her identity.

The case draws a direct line between a 2015 voice memo and one of reggaeton’s most globally successful albums. De La Cruz Hernández says she recorded the phrase at the artist’s request during their on-and-off relationship, never authorizing its use on either “Pa Ti” (2015) or “Dos Mil 16,” a cut from Un Verano Sin Ti. She accuses Bad Bunny and his label, Rimas Entertainment, of turning the snippet into a marketing asset — playing it across streaming services, social media, television, and radio to feed public fascination with the couple’s history.

The court’s majority determined the complaint for “Dos Mil 16” presents enough facts to move forward, while the claim regarding “Pa Ti” is blocked by the statute of limitations. In a notable secondary development, the justices also reversed an earlier dismissal of De La Cruz Hernández’s copyright argument, signaling her distinctive vocal performance might warrant protection as a copyrightable work. One dissenting judge would have thrown out both claims, arguing neither was supported by law.

The ruling keeps in play a dispute that raises unsettled questions about personality rights, voice ownership, and the commercial afterlife of intimate recordings in the streaming era. For Bad Bunny, litigation now runs parallel to the legacy of an album built partly on the mythos of private moments made public.