Reggaeton’s Dembow Foundation Faces a Copyright Reckoning

The legal fight over reggaeton’s dembow riddim has entered a more uncertain phase. At the centre is Bad Bunny, whose songs “Tití Me Preguntó,” “Un Ratito,” and “Una Vez” are among those named in a dispute that stretches back to “Fish Market,” a 1989 production by Steely and Clevie.

Since 2023, Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and the heirs of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson have argued that parts of “Fish Market” became components of dembow, one of reggaeton’s foundations. The claim could affect more than 100 artists and roughly 1,800 songs. In early July, U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr ruled that a jury should decide whether the musical combination is sufficiently protected and whether numerous reggaeton recordings copied those elements without authorisation.

Last week, the judge agreed to reconsider that decision after arguments from Bad Bunny’s legal team and attorneys for other artists. They contend the dembow elements drawn from “Fish Market” are not a continuous passage from a single composition but rather portions taken from separate sections of that track and another Steely and Clevie piece, “Pounder (Dub Mix II).” The composition copyright for “Pounder” belongs to Jamaican producer Dennis “The Menace” Halliburton, who is not part of the lawsuit.

The dispute now turns on what dembow actually is—and whether copyright can cover a musical arrangement assembled from non-continuous fragments of different works. With Justin Bieber, Daddy Yankee, and Pitbull also tied to the riddim, the judge’s next order will carry weight far beyond one artist.