A federal just ruled Tuesday that Shakira’s 2010 hit “Loca” was copied from another singer’s work. Her label, Sony, will be held accountable for copyright infringement and the song’s publishing will be transferred to Mayimba Music.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled in favor of Mayimba, the plaintiff in the case, reports The Hollywood Reporter. The track, particularly the Spanish version, had similarities to Ramon "Arias" Vasquez’s “Loca con su Tiguera,” which he wrote in the mid-’90s and performed for the judge.
Arias testified that he met another singer, Eduardo Edwin Bello Pou, around eight years ago. At that time, he gave Bello - stage name El Cata - two songs, one of which was “Loca con su Tiguera.” Bello claimed this story wasn’t true and that “Loca con su Tiguera” was really his own song.
Hellerstein didn’t buy that, noting how Bello gave a different account for the song’s inspiration previously and the fact that a 1998 tape of the songs did exist.
Bello was featured on Shakira’s Spanish recording of the song, which was different from the English recording. The lawsuit was concerned with the Spanish version, so the only Sony arms involved were SonyATV Latin and Sony/ATV Discos. According to Fox News, Hellerstein dismissed charges related to the English version.
Hellerstein found that Shakira’s “Loca” was based on Bello’s 2007 song, which was the track that had directly copied Arias’ song. So, “whoever wrote Skakira’s version of the song also indirectly copied Arias,” he wrote in his ruling.
The damages Sony has to pay Mayimba, which filed the lawsuit in 2012, will be determined later.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com