Shakira’s Song ‘Loca’ Ruled A ‘Copy’ Of Another Artist’s Work

Shakira’s song “Loca” was recently ruled an “illegal copy” of another tune. In other words, someone stole the idea from another songwriter.

The Spanish-language track was a pretty big hit for the singer back in 2010. The song ended up becoming a hit around the world, which may have ultimately worked against Shakira and her team of producers in the long run. Once a songwriter from the Dominican Republic heard the tune, a copyright infringement lawsuit was officially launched.

According to Fox News Latino, Ramon “Arias” Vasquez claims “Loca” sounds eerily similar to his song “Loca con su Tiguera.” Vasquez also insisted that he wrote the track back in the 1990s, long before Shakira and her team put together their own international hit. It didn’t very long for a judge to rule in the songwriter’s favor.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled earlier this week the song was definitely a copy of Vasquez’s work. Hellerstein reportedly found many similarities between the tunes.

“These hooks play a similar function in both songs. Similar rhythm in both hooks drive the songs. The repetitions are slightly different, but the differences do not affect the song…. There is no dispute that Shakira’s version of the song was based on Bello’s version.

However, not every part of the songwriter’s song is legally protected.

“However, there is no proof in this case that the phrase ‘Loca con su Tiguere’ was commonly used in the Dominican Republic or elsewhere at the time Arias composed his song. ‘Tiguere’ is a slang word in the Dominican Republic [for street tough]. But the fact that that one word in a phrase is slang does not mean that the phrase itself is necessarily so common that it cannot be copyrighted. Popular musicians have been using slang and metaphors in their songs for decades.”

According to reports, Vasquez originally met up with “Loca” songwriter Eduardo Edwin Bello Pou eight years ago. Bello, who was a singer at the time, was reportedly a huge fan of Vasquez’s song. Although Vasquez claims Bello wanted to record the track, the songwriter denied these allegations. Since the judge ruled that the song is nothing more than a copy, Shakira’s record label, Sony, will have to cough up damages.

“Accordingly, I find that, since Bello had copied Arias, whoever wrote Shakira’s version of the song also indirectly copied Arias,” the judge explained.

Are you surprised that Shakira’s song was ruled a copy of another artist’s work?

[Lead image via Women’s Health]