Daddy Yankee, Black Eyed Peas Hit With Copyright Lawsuit Over Unauthorized 'Scatman' Sample in 'Bailar Contigo'

Daddy Yankee, Black Eyed Peas Hit With Copyright Lawsuit Over Unauthorized 'Scatman' Sample in 'Bailar Contigo'

By Marcus Stevenson

December 29, 2024 at 09:54 PM

Daddy Yankee, Black Eyed Peas, and Sony Music are facing a copyright infringement lawsuit for allegedly sampling "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" without proper authorization in their 2022 track "Bailar Contigo."

Man singing into microphone onstage

Man singing into microphone onstage

Iceberg Records, a Danish label, filed the complaint in California federal court. While the defendants had secured rights to use the underlying composition of "Scatman," the lawsuit claims they used the actual master recording without permission.

Key points of the lawsuit:

  • The original agreement granted Iceberg Records a 75% compositional stake and 5% master income interest in "Bailar Contigo"
  • "Bailar Contigo" has accumulated nearly 70 million Spotify streams
  • Iceberg Records owns the master rights to "Scatman" and 50% of its publishing rights
  • The plaintiff alleges the defendants "simply lied" about not using the recording to avoid higher licensing fees

The lawsuit seeks damages and attorneys' fees for direct and contributory infringement, as well as fraud. Sony Music has not responded to requests for comment, and Iceberg founder Manfred Zähringer declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

This case joins recent music copyright disputes, including:

  • A dismissed infringement complaint against Roddy Ricch over "The Box"
  • A separate sample-focused lawsuit against Travis Scott and others regarding "Stargazing" and "Til Further Notice"

Cartoon monkey wearing golden crown

Cartoon monkey wearing golden crown

Morrison Hotel album cover

Morrison Hotel album cover

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