Photo Credit: ThoughtMatters / CC by 4.0
Los Lobos sues Sony Music and Sony Pictures in two separate lawsuits alleging non-payment of royalties for songs featured in the films La Bamba and Desperado.
Los Angeles band Los Lobos is suing Sony Music and Sony Pictures for two separate instances alleging the company underpaid streaming royalties for the group’s recordings used in the 1987 Richie Valens biopic La Bamba and the 1995 Antonio Banderas western film Desperado.
According to the lawsuit, which the band initially filed in California state court before Sony filed to move it to New York federal court, Sony owes a combined total of at least $1.5 million in contractual damages. In both instances, Los Lobos accuses Sony of failing to pay royalties for the streaming use of their recordings in these two films in any country outside of the United States and Canada.
Specifically, the suit against Sony Music Entertainment focuses on unpaid royalties for the song “Canción del Mariachi” featured in the movie Desperado. Los Lobos alleges that neither Sony nor its imprint, Milan Records, have paid any streaming royalties globally for the track’s use—despite its recent surge in popularity as a walkout anthem for MMA fighter Ilia “El Matador” Topuria. In that instance, the band is seeking at least $500,000 for alleged breach of contract, and requests a formal accounting of damages owed.
“Despite the specific knowledge that the popularity of the recording was spiking and reaching new audiences, Sony and [affiliate imprint] Milan still paid nothing to Los Lobos for streaming, and continues to pay nothing for streaming anywhere in the world for any time period,” reads the lawsuit.
Los Lobos also sued Sony Pictures and its subsidiary Columbia Pictures for allegedly unpaid royalties stemming from the La Bamba soundtrack, which features several Los Lobos covers, including Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba.” Their version spent several weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
