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Shakira And Carlos Vives Targeted With Plagiarism Lawsuit For Song They Sang 10 Years Ago

Shakira And Carlos Vives Targeted With Plagiarism Lawsuit For Song They Sang 10 Years Ago

A Cuban singer has accused Shakira and Carlos Vives of copying the chorus of one of his songs for their megahit “La Bicicleta.”

Livan Rafael Castellanos, known as Livam, has filed a complaint against Shakira and Vives in a court in Spain, Shakira’s country of residence, according to Spanish press reports. The case has been declared admissible by court judges.

In the wake of the filing in Madrid mercantile court, Spanish composer’s rights society SGAE said it will retain royalties for the song until the case is resolved.

Livam’s complaint refers specifically to the lyrics and music of a part of the chorus of both songs, according to court documents obtained by Madrid’s El Mundo newspaper.

The Cuban artist and his publisher Maryla Dianik Romeu of MDRB Music Publishing accuse the artists and their representatives of plagiarizing Livam’s song “Yo Te Quiero Tanto,” which he wrote in 1997. The court documents state that the song was one that Livam had sent to various publishers and labels for consideration when he was looking for a publishing deal. He signed a contract with EMI Publishing Spain  in 2011 for his catologue, which included “Yo Te Quiero Tanto.”

In his chorus, Livam sings “yo te quiero tanto” (“I love you so much”) to a tropical beat, while Shakira and Vives’ chorus goes “que te sueño y que te quiero tanto” (“I dream about you and I love you so much”).  A music expert witness in Livam’s case attested to the fact that the songs share “the same rhythm and the same melody” in the cited part of the chorus. It seems  like a tenuous accusation since the alleged similarity is limited to that one line in the song.

Last October, according to El Mundo representatives for the two sides met to discuss a settlement in the matter, but no agreement was reached. The complaint was filed in the Madrid court on Feb. 3, and names Vives, Shakira, producer/composer Andres Eduardo Castro, Sony Music Publishing Latino and nine other producers.

“La Bicicleta” is a finalist in five Billboard Latin Music Awards song categories, including Hot Latin Song of the Year, Digital Song of the Year and Latin Pop Song of the Year. The Colombian stars’ joyful duet won the Latin Grammy La Bicicleta” won both Record and Song of the Year at the 2016 Latin Grammys. It has been viewed nearly 8 million times on YouTube.

Sony Music was found liable in New York court for copyright infringement in a 2014 case involving another Shakira hit, “Loca.” That ruling was overturned and in the case dismissed in 2015 however, when a judge ruled that Dominican songwriter Ramon Arias Vasquez had faked a cassette tape on which he claimed to have recorded a similar song (“Loca con su Tigurere” ) before Shakira’s.

 

by Judy Cantor-Navas

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