A United States federal court in Miami has awarded $1.2 million to a group of independent Latin record labels and music publishers after finding that musician Luigui Bleand and his companies infringed 40 works they did not own.
The Aug. 16 judgment from Judge Darrin P. Gayles finds Bleand, whose legal name is Luis Alfredo Silverio, and his companies liable for copyright infringement of works owned by J&N Music Group, 829Music Mundial and Mayimba Music. The affected catalogs include tracks by artists from the Dominican Republic: Ramón Torres, Grupo Aguakate and El Chaval de la Bachata.
Case background#
The labels and publishers sued Bleand in 2024, alleging he falsely claimed ownership of their catalogs and signed a distribution agreement with Warner Music Group’s ADA Latin three years earlier. Relying on Bleand’s claims, ADA Latin allegedly distributed the tracks to streaming platforms including Spotify, Amazon and YouTube.
ADA Latin later terminated the agreement after learning Bleand did not own the rights. The Warner subsidiary was initially named as a defendant but reached a confidential settlement and left the case.
Bleand and his companies initially denied wrongdoing and hired lawyers. A tentative settlement with the labels and publishers in 2025 fell apart, after which their attorneys withdrew and Bleand stopped responding to the litigation.
Damages and response#
Judge Gayles awarded damages as follows:
- $30,000 for each of the 40 infringed works
- $1.2 million in total damages
- Legal fees incurred by J&N Music Group, 829Music Mundial and Mayimba Music
“The undisputed facts establish that Silverio knew of Plaintiffs’ ownership interests when defendants began exploiting the works, knew that neither he nor the [companies] possessed a license or other authorization to distribute them, and nevertheless provided the works for distribution,” wrote Judge Gayles.
In a joint statement, representatives for the three companies said the decision sends a message to those in the industry who are “gaming the system” and that, “indies or not,” they will protect their rights to the fullest extent of the law.
Bleand and a representative for Warner Music Group did not immediately return requests for comment.
