Bad Bunny Gets Litigious: Why the Puerto Rican Rapper is Suing a Fan Over YouTube Videos

It seems like $435 million per tour is not enough for Bad Bunny. With tickets skyrocketing——if you can find any——the performer is now after a fan who uploaded videos of his show online.

According to TMZ, the Puerto Rican rapper is suing a fan named Eric Guillermo Madronal Garrone for posting concert footage to his YouTube channel MadforliveMusic.

Garrone allegedly went to Benito’s February 21 concert in Salt Lake City, Utah. He recorded multiple videos of his live performance and shared them online “without consent.” According to the lawsuit, Bad Bunny owns the rights to his live performance music, which fans cannot use for profit unless they have his authorization.

The lawsuit documents state that Garrone cannot use the singer’s name and music to drive traffic and earn ad revenue through his YouTube channel. The lawsuit notes that Bad Bunny and his team tried to issue standard takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act without success.

Apparently, Garrone filed a counterclaim that ended in the legal procedure.

The difference between uploading a cellphone recording and a high-quality 9-minute video

If you’re worried about posting a video and sharing the expensive experience with friends, fear not. TMZ said Garrone had “a great view at the show and some high-quality camera equipment.” In fact, the only video still up on his channel by Friday was 9 minutes long. And it almost looked like a professional recording of the show.

TMZ highlights that “it seems a lot different than just uploading a cell phone video of the show to social media.”

The lawsuit, filed March 8 in the Northern District of California, seeks an injunction to prevent Madronal Garrone from sharing any of his content. 

Benito is also seeking either $150,000 for each video or profits made from ad revenues on YouTube

“Defendants have objected to the removal of the unauthorized bootlegs from YouTube. [They] refused to agree not to re-post them, and requested that YouTube reinstate them,” Bad Bunny’s attorneys wrote. Unless enjoined by this court, defendants will continue to infringe [Benito]’s rights.”

As Billboard explains, these kinds of disputes over online content happen all the time. However, they’re usually handled without a lawsuit.” It just takes for the individual to take down the footage. In Garrone’s case, he argued he had made “legitimate use of the content.” He added the takedown notice “constitutes a serious detriment to my informative and outreach activities.”

“The removed videos also cover the start of the worldwide tour of Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Bad Bunny, with this being his first date out of the 47 planned across North America, constituting in itself a newsworthy event of high public interest and significant informative scope,” Garrone wrote. “In my opinion, the artist also benefits from the dissemination of the content in his own promotion, as his show is carefully captured, conveying the reality of the moment without alterations or post-production in the content.”

However, by Monday, Garrone’s YouTube page had been disabled.