A US federal judge has dismissed the copyright infringement lawsuit brought against Bad Bunny over his track Enséñame a Bailar, after the case was apparently abandoned by the plaintiff.
Judge Otis D. Wright II of the US District Court for the Central District of California issued a judgment on Monday (March 9) in favor of the Puerto Rican rapper (real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) and all co-defendants, including Rimas Entertainment, The Orchard, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Spotify, and Apple.
The dismissal is with prejudice, meaning the claims cannot be refiled.
The lawsuit, which you can read here, was filed in May 2025 by Nigerian producer Ezeani Chidera Godfrey (known professionally as Dera) and UK-based label emPawa Africa Music Services.
It alleged that Enséñame a Bailar, which featured on Bad Bunny’s 2022 album Un Verano Sin Ti, sampled and interpolated Dera’s 2019 instrumental work Empty My Pocket — later recorded with vocals by Joeboy, an artist signed to emPawa — without authorization or credit.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that it is “not very often that a musical artist of Bad Bunny’s caliber and sophistication uses someone else’s music without permission, and then ignores the person’s efforts to resolve the problem.”
They alleged that Dera’s works “comprise virtually the entirety of the musical bed and a portion of the lyrics” in Enséñame a Bailar.
The complaint sought damages the plaintiffs estimated at no less than $25 million per claim, across four causes of action.
In a statement to Billboard following the dismissal, Bad Bunny’s attorney Karen L. Stetson said the sample had been legitimately licensed.
“My client bought the rights to use the music at issue and [was] never provided evidence of the plaintiffs’ contrary claims of ownership,” said Stetson. “When plaintiffs were forced to provide evidence in the lawsuit, they chose instead to abandon the case, resulting in the dismissal and final judgment in favor of defendants.”
Godfrey’s legal team withdrew from the case in January 2026. According to Billboard, lead attorney Robert Jacobs told the court that “disagreements with respect to legal strategy have emerged” and that “the attorney-client relationship and communications have frayed.”
emPawa Africa was separately dismissed as a plaintiff, reports Rolling Stone, after also missing court deadlines.
Godfrey then failed to appear at a February 5 discovery hearing, and did not respond to a subsequent order to show cause regarding that non-appearance.
“The Court concludes that Godfrey has abandoned this case, and that letting this action drag out any longer would prejudice defendants and would be against the public interest.”
JUDGE Otis D. Wright II
On February 19, Judge Wright issued his own order requiring Godfrey to explain, no later than March 6, why the case should not be dismissed with prejudice for lack of prosecution.
Godfrey did not respond.
In his ruling, Judge Wright wrote: “The Court concludes that Godfrey has abandoned this case, and that letting this action drag out any longer would prejudice defendants and would be against the public interest.”
The court did not rule on the merits of the infringement claim.
The dispute dates back to February 2023, when, according to Rolling Stone, Mr. Eazi — founder of emPawa Africa — publicly accused Bad Bunny and Rimas of using Empty My Pocket without permission.
As MBW reported in January, the artist and Rimas Entertainment are also being sued for $16 million in Puerto Rico over the alleged unauthorized use of a woman’s voice recording in two songs, including a track on his 2025 album Debí Tirar Más Fotos.Music Business Worldwide
