The lead story concerns a five-year-old copyright lawsuit brought by reggae duo Steely & Clevie, which targets Bad Bunny, Karol G and more than a hundred other artists over the "dembow" rhythm — the signature percussion underpinning almost all reggaetón. The suit claims this rhythm was lifted from a sample of the 1989 track "Fish Market", potentially rendering nearly 2,000 songs uncleared. A judge has just declined to grant summary judgment to either side, meaning this sprawling and costly case will proceed towards discovery and a possible jury trial rather than being resolved now.

The defendants — who also include Pitbull, Drake, Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi, Justin Bieber and all three major labels — argue that the dembow rhythm is too basic to be copyrighted and already exists in countless earlier works. The ruling was procedural rather than a decision on the merits, but its practical effect is to raise the prospect of a settlement given the scale involved. The article, part of Billboard's "Legal Beat" newsletter, also rounds up other music-law news, including a jury ordering Chris Brown to pay nearly $13 million over a woman mauled by his dog, and Taylor Swift winning dismissal of a copyright claim from a Florida poet.