September 13, 2026
Shabba sued the publishing arm of reggae label Greensleeves Records on Friday (Sept. 11).
The lawsuit naims to reclaim compositions including the Billboard Hot 100 hits “Slow and Sexy”, “Housecall”, “Mr. Loverman” and “Let’s Get It On.”
Shabba’s catalogue also includes the 1990 song “Dem Bow”, the namesake for reggaetón’s iconic “dembow” rhythm that is currently at the center of a long-running copyright infringement lawsuit entangling the entire genre.
Friday’s lawsuit, meanwhile, centers on copyright termination — the provision of U.S. copyright law that enables authors to claw back their intellectual property decades after signing it away.
Labels and publishers have a habit of fighting back when musicians invoke this right, often leading to litigation.
Shabba first notified Greensleeves in 2023 that he wanted to exercise his termination right, but the publisher said no.
According to Greensleeves, Shabba’s 1989 publishing deal stipulated that his compositions were “works made for hire,” which are explicitly excluded from the copyright termination statute.
Shabba, however, is contesting the validity of that work-for-hire provision, and he wants a judge to declare that his copyright termination is effective regardless.
