Shakira Copyright Lawsuit: Judge Rules Song 'Loca' Is Rip-Off

And we thought Shakira had learned after the “Hips Don’t Lie” scandal for using Jerry Rivera’s music at the beginning of the song, and Luis “El Terror” Días’ lyrics of “baila en la calle de noche, baila en la calle de día” with no mention of his name in the credits. Well, now she made a similar mistake, but this time it was unknowingly. Alvin Hellerstein, a federal judge in New York, ruled Wednesday, August 20, that Shakira’s “Loca” is an “illegal copy” of a 1998 song called “Loca con su Tíguere” by a Dominican songwriter named Ramón Arias Vásquez.

And no, that’s not El Cata’s name, the merengue urbano performer who made the song popular back in 2007, skyrocketing him to fame in the Dominican Republic. Turns out Arias Vásquez claims he wrote and recorded the song between 1996 and 1998 after his sister, Janette, got caught up in a love triangle with a “tíguere,” which is Dominican slang for “street tough,” and a richer man. Eventually, Arias Vásquez showed the song to Eduard Edwin Bello Pou (El Cata’s real name) in 2006 or 2007 with hopes that he would record it himself.

El Cata did and it became a sensation. However, he claims he never met up with Arias Vásquez and he insists he wrote the song. He says he recorded it in 2007 and it was “inspired by his relationship with his ex-wife. She was from a wealthy background, whereas he was from a poor background.” El Cata commercially registered the song in the United States. He added that Arias Vásquez registered the same song, with the same name in the Dominican Republic and later sold the rights to Mayimba Music, a record company in New York.

It was that record company who filed the lawsuit against Shakira’s record company, Sony ATV. None of the individuals (Ramón Arias Vásquez, El Cata and Shakira) are parties in the suit. Shakira included two versions of the song “Loca con mi Tíguere” in her 2010 album “Sale el Sol.” She renamed it just “Loca” and recorded a Spanish version featuring El Cata and an English version featuring Pitbull. The English version was “not offered into evidence” at the trial.

The plaintiffs also asked the judge to ban Sony from reproducing the song in the future. But Judge Hellerstein denied the request, considering it "premature." A trial on damages, where the court will decide how much Sony has to pay Mayimba Music will be held in September.