Rauw Alejandro is facing a new lawsuit accusing him of not obtaining licenses for samples of several songs by reggaeton pioneer DJ Playero across his 2022 album, Saturno.
Notably, the lawsuit was not brought by DJ Playero — who actively collaborated with Alejandro on Saturno — but BM Records, a Florida-based distributor and label that claims to own much of DJ Playero’s catalog. BM Records brought a similar suit against Bad Bunny, claiming he sampled several DJ Playero songs on “Safaera” without permission; that case was settled in 2023.
BM Records’ new lawsuit, obtained by Rolling Stone, lists four Saturno tracks that allegedly contain uncleared DJ Playero samples. “De Carolina,” allegedly incorporates “La Gente Sabe” and “Somos De Carolina”; “Panties Y Brasieres,” allegedly incorporates “Camuflash” and “Camuflash Live”; “Dejau’,” allegedly contains samples of six different Playero tracks; and “Punto 40,” allegedly samples “Tengo Ina Punto 40.”
Speaking to the often strange nature of music rights ownership, DJ Playero is credited as a featured artist and producer on “De Carolina” and “Dejau’,” while he also has a production credit on “Punto 40.”
Yet BM Records claims in their suit, “At no point in time did any of the defendants obtain a valid license to sample the Playero works on Saturno. As such, the continuing exploitation of Saturno infringes the copyrights to the Playero works owned by [BM].”
Reps for Alejandro and Playero did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment. BM Records’ lawyer declined to comment.
According to the suit, BM Records has “entered into several agreements” with DJ Playero over the years to acquire the rights to much of his catalog. The suit claims Playero “confirmed his alienation of the Playero Works as recently as 2007 by way of a signed written agreement executed between himself and BM Records.”
BM Records is seeking extensive damages, with each instance of alleged infringement carrying a potential statutory maximum of $150,000.
