Puerto Rico's Supreme Court has revived part of a lawsuit filed against reggaeton artist Benito Antonio Martínez, known as Bad Bunny, by his former partner, attorney Carliz De La Cruz Hernández. The suit, filed March 1, 2023, alleges that the phrase "Bad Bunny, baby," recorded in De La Cruz Hernández's voice during a personal recording, was used without her authorization, violating her rights under Puerto Rico's Moral Rights of Authors Law and other statutes. She is seeking $40 million.
After the case moved through multiple appeals, the Supreme Court issued a 50-page opinion—its first examination of legal protections around unauthorized use of a person's voice—ruling that her claims were sufficiently grounded to proceed to trial, though it did not determine she had won. The court found the phrase could constitute an original, creative work protected under copyright law, and that she adequately alleged her voice was used commercially without consent, violating her right to her own image. The case returns to the San Juan court.
The court partly sided with defendants Bad Bunny, his manager Noah Kamil Assad Byrne, Rimas Entertainment LLC, Rimas Classics LLC, and Noah Assad LLC, ruling that claims tied to the 2016 song "Pa Ti" are time-barred.