Shakira and Carlos Vives cleared of plagiarism over their La Bicicleta hit

Colombian superstars Shakira and Carlos Vives have been cleared of plagiarism allegations over their La Bicicleta hit.

Cuban musician Livan Rafael Castellanos, also known as Livam, filed a lawsuit against the singers in a court in Spain, where Shakira lives, in March, 2017, claiming the hitmakers had illegally lifted lyrics and a portion of the chorus’ melody from his 1997 track Yo Te Quiero Tanto (I Love You So Much) for their Latin Grammy-winning single.

Shakira and Vives vehemently denied the accusations, and even testified in court in Madrid in March (2019), when they insisted they had never heard Livam’s song.

Now the collaborators have been given reason to celebrate as the judge ruled in their favour on Thursday (16May19) and rejected Castellanos‘ complaint.

“There is no plagiarism whatsoever as claimed by the plaintiff in this lawsuit,” the court official stated.

The judge declared the lyric in question, translated from Shakira and Vives‘ tune to read, “I dream of you and love you so much,” isn’t similar enough to Castellanos’ “I love you, I love you so much” line, because the expression is “common”, and has been “used in all sorts of songs and lyrics, all through history”.

The lawmaker also declared that similarities regarding La Bicicleta and Yo Te Quiero Tanto’s melody, rhythm, and harmony were unfounded, insisting the two songs were completely different.