Steely & Clevie copyright battle ‘far from over,’ says attorney

Despite a ruling by United States (US) District Judge Andre Birotte Jr reversing a copyright claim by the estate of dancehall producers Steely and Clevie against over 150 hip hop and reggaeton artistes, Jamaican attorney Lloyd Stanbury says the case is “far from over”. In stories reported in US Media on September 3, Birotte said lawyers for reggaeton star Bad Bunny convinced him that his ruling in July clearing the way for Steely and Clevie to make composition copyright claims against the high-profile acts, was wrong. After reconsidering the issue, Birotte determined that the composition copyright claims should no longer advance to trial. Rolling Stone Magazine reported that this was a significant blow to Steely (Wycliffe Johnson) and Clevie (Cleveland Browne). The latter filed the lawsuit in 2021; Steely died in 2009. Their lawyers argued that elements of the duo’s 1989 song, Fish Market, has been sampled by countless hip hop, pop and reggaeton acts including Drake, Bad Bunny, Pitbull, Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee. Rolling Stone reported that Birotte’s about-turn, “ends a large portion of the lawsuit”, while y!entertainment described it as a “significant legal victory” for the high-profile artistes who one month ago, looked headed for trial. But Stanbury, who was once Steely and Clevie’s lawyer, disagrees. “I would say to all the media persons and self-made journalists jumping to conclusions and writing for likes and views, the lawsuit is still before the court, and the plaintiffs have a right to appeal and challenge the recent backsliding decision of the presiding judge,” he told Observer Online. When contacted by Observer Online, Browne declined to comment on the ruling. Reggaeton artistes have consistently pointed to dancehall-reggae from the 1980s and 1990s as a major influence on their sound which emerged in Puerto Rico during the late 1980s, and exploded in Panama in the early 1990s. Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee, both from Puerto Rico, are the biggest names in reggaeton which has the most lucrative market in Latin America. The sound also has a huge following in the United States where there are large Latin communities. Steely and Clevie were dominant as musicians/producers during the 1980s and 1990s. They created the rhythm for or produced songs such as Wicked inna Bed and Dem Bow (driven by the Fish Market beat) by Shabba Ranks. Those beats have been referenced as influences by many reggaeton artistes.