Bad Bunny Countersues Music Publisher, Demanding Legal Fee Coverage in Copyright Case

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**Bad Bunny**&rsquo;s lawyers are seeking to have an African music publisher cover their legal fees after the publisher dragged the Puerto Rican superstar into a failed copyright litigation over a track on his chart-topping album <em>Un Verano Sin Ti</em>.






**emPawa Africa**, an independent music company that has a deal with Nigerian songwriter **Dera**, sued **Bad Bunny** last year for allegedly failing to ask their permission before sampling his 2019 song &ldquo;Empty My Pocket&rdquo; on &ldquo;Ens&eacute;&ntilde;ame a Bailar,&rdquo; which spent two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022. **Bad Bunny** maintains that he properly cleared the sample with another rightsholder on &ldquo;Empty My Pocket,&rdquo; the producer **Lakizo**.

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The attorneys repping emPawa dropped out of the lawsuit at the end of 2025 due to “irreconcilable differences,” ultimately leading a judge to dismiss the case for lack of prosecution earlier this month. Now, **Bad Bunny** and various co-defendants in the case, including Rimas Entertainment and The Orchard, argue that emPawa should have to foot the $465,612 legal bill they racked up defending against the “frivolous” claims.






“This case was meritless from the beginning and should never have been brought,” reads the Monday (March 23) motion for legal fees. “Instead, emPawa filed and aggressively litigated it, apparently hoping that **Bad Bunny**’s wealth, prominence and desire to avoid attorneys’ fees and bad publicity would enable emPawa to extract an undeserved, multimillion-dollar settlement.”






**Bad Bunny**’s lawyers say emPawa dragged out the case even though it was clear from the beginning that the “Enséñame a Bailar” sample was properly licensed from **Lakizo**. emPawa allegedly used various tactics to “stall and delay” the litigation, then bowed out when it came time to hand over evidence through the discovery process.






“When faced with an imminent court order that would require it to explain how it owned ‘Empty’ and Lakizo did not, Empawa chose instead to abandon its claims altogether,” reads Monday’s motion. “That it did not find a replacement counsel to prosecute its claims after its original counsel withdrew speaks volumes.”

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According to the motion, this conduct forced heavy-hitting music lawyer **Jeff Goldman** and a team of attorneys from Florida firm Gray Robinson to rack up hundreds of hours on **Bad Bunny**’s defense. The three senior lawyers on the case billed hourly rates of $555, $615 and $680.