Bad Bunny is suing a fan for copyright infringement over footage from his concert that was posted on YouTube.
According to court documents obtained by NBC News, the Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar filed a lawsuit against Eric Guillermo Madronal Garrone for sharing concert footage of 10 songs on his YouTube account MadforliveMusic.
The lawsuit, filed March 8 in the Northern District of California, said the recordings were made last month during a show in Salt Lake City, Utah. Bad Bunny, who's real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is currently on his Most Wanted Tour in the U.S.
Unlike clips shared on social media by other concertgoers, Madronal Garrone posted high-quality videos of full songs, which Bad Bunny argues violate his rights over his live performances, the lawsuit claims. Additionally, the "Monaco" singer said Madronal Garrone is profiting off his name and music by using the footage to attract video videos and cash in on ad revenues, according to the lawsuit.
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"Each of the Unauthorized Bootlegs, both individually and collectively, negatively impacts the market for authorized uses of the Bad Bunny Works by, among other things, luring YouTube viewers and associated advertising revenue away from authorized videos of the Bad Bunny Works and the official Bad Bunny YouTube channel, and towards the Unauthorized Bootlegs (and the MADforliveMUSIC YouTube channel)," the lawsuit states.
The rapper notes that after initially filing a take-down claim with YouTube under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the platform removed the videos in question. However, Madronal Garrone filed a counterclaim and YouTube restored them, prompting Bad Bunny to file the lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent Madronal Garrone from sharing any of his content. He's also seeking either $150,000 for each video or profits made from ad revenues on YouTube.
As of midday Monday, Madronal Garrone's YouTube page was no longer available on the platform.
