Global music star Bad Bunny is asking a U.S. court to order emPawa Africa to pay over $465,000 in legal fees following the dismissal of a copyright lawsuit tied to his song Enséñame a Bailar.
The request, filed in late March 2026, comes weeks after a federal judge dismissed the case on March 9 after the plaintiffs failed to meet key court deadlines. Bad Bunny is seeking $465,612 in legal costs, arguing that the lawsuit lacked merit from the outset.
The dispute stems from claims that Enséñame a Bailar, a track from his 2022 album Un Verano Sin Ti, used an uncleared sample from Empty My Pocket by Nigerian artist Joeboy. The lawsuit was filed in May 2025 by Nigerian producer Dera (Ezeani Chidera Godfrey) alongside emPawa Africa.
The disagreement, however, had already played out publicly years before it reached the courts. In 2023, Mr Eazi, founder of emPawa Africa, accused Bad Bunny of copyright infringement on social media, alleging that the song sampled and interpolated Joeboy’s track without proper authorization. In a LinkedIn post, he further described the situation as a case of “ill intent and abuse.”
Bad Bunny’s team consistently denied the allegations. In a statement, his label, Rimas Entertainment, said the track had been lawfully acquired from Lakizo Entertainment, which they identified as the legitimate rights holder. The label also maintained that emPawa Africa failed to provide sufficient documentation to support its ownership claims despite multiple requests.
The case began to unravel in early 2026 after a series of procedural lapses. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice after Dera missed key deadlines and failed to appear at a scheduled hearing. In his ruling, the judge stated that the court concluded the plaintiff had effectively abandoned the case, noting that allowing it to continue would unfairly burden the defendants.
Court records also show that emPawa Africa had already been removed as a co-plaintiff before the final dismissal after failing to comply with court requirements. The situation was further complicated when Dera’s legal team withdrew earlier in the year, citing “irreparable differences” over strategy.
Following the dismissal, Bad Bunny’s attorneys filed a motion on March 23 seeking to recover legal expenses. They argued that the lawsuit was “meritless from the beginning” and claimed that emPawa Africa pursued the case aggressively in hopes of securing a substantial settlement due to the artist’s global profile.
Notably, the legal team is seeking to recover the full amount specifically from emPawa Africa rather than from Dera, whom they believe was not the primary driver or financier of the litigation.
The court will now decide whether emPawa Africa can be held responsible for covering the legal costs, a move that could have broader implications for how copyright disputes are pursued in the music industry.
While the lawsuit over Enséñame a Bailar has been dismissed, the case has drawn attention across both African and global music circles, highlighting the growing complexity of cross-border copyright claims and music rights ownership in an increasingly interconnected industry.
