Who copied the Reggaetonno? Dispute of plagiarism to the Zecchino d’Oro

A dancing fish threatens to become the subject of a plagiarism suit to the next Zecchino d’oro. To tell the Adnkronos the journalist Michele Bovi who conducted a research on songs for children, anticipated today, and soon visible also on his website (www.michelebovi.it), dedicated to copyright. From the combination of reggaeton, the Puerto Rican dance launched in the early nineties, and the most canned fish species in the world, the title ‘Il Reggaetonno’ was born, a song that from 1 to 4 December will compete in the most famous musical competition for children, the one conceived in 1959 by the monks of the Antoniano of Bologna. To interpret ‘Il Reggaetonno’ at the Zecchino d’oro, a program broadcast by Rai1 under the artistic direction of Carlo Conti, will be the little ones Giuseppe and Irene, respectively 7 and 8 years old. “In all the seas of the world, from Polo to Macondo, we talk about him: Reggaetonno”, says the refrain of the song written by Andrea Casamento, Gianfranco Grottoli and Andrea Vaschetti, the three most present and famous authors in the past 15 editions of Zecchino gold. What then is the busillis? Already in 2020, two months before their Reggaetonno at the selection of the Zecchino d’oro another song with the same title and with the refrain that reported ‘Reggaetonno is danced in all the seas of the world, from the Maldives to Cefalù, if you want to dance take a dip too ‘. The song is signed by Dario Sgrò, another musician specialized in the composition of soundtracks for cartoons and motifs for children, together with the singer-songwriter Andrea Di Giustino. “The similarities in the lyrics of the two songs, as well as the identity of the title, are obvious. – says Dario Sgrò – We nominated our piece for the Zecchino d’oro in February 2020. They replied that despite having entered the selection of the first 100 ‘Il Reggaetonno’ it had not been admitted to the competition. edition 2021, but it has not even entered the selection. Think of our bewilderment when we discovered that among the participating songs next December is ‘Il Reggaetonno’, written by other authors “. Sgrò and Di Giustino did research at Siae, protested with Fabrizio Palaferri, director of the Antoniano production center, threatening a lawsuit for counterfeiting. No way. “The Zecchino d’oro organization replied that the proof of the pre-existence of the ‘Reggaetonno’ admitted in the December edition would be in a wetransfer dating back to 2019 – adds Sgrò – Yet ours is deposited in the SIAE Archive in January of 2020, while the other bears the date of March 2020, when the Antoniano had already been in possession of our Reggaetonno for a month “. The story obviously doesn’t end there. The lawyers are working to establish the most appropriate interpretation of copyright in this regard and have asked Siae for a series of comparisons between the passages by individual for the possible existence of plagiarism. It should be added, incredible but true, that in the Archive of the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers there is actually a third ‘Reggaetonno’, deposited in November 2018 by the musician Chiara del Vaglio. Between the two litigants it could therefore be this third (but chronologically first) deposit to cut off the head of… tuna? “I was the first to have the idea of ​​that title – confirms Chiara del Vaglio – It seemed to me an elementary play on words. I was working at the time for Rtv Music: I sent a ribbon with three songs, including ‘Reggaetonno’, which, however, did not They were used. They were instrumental pieces, without lyrics. With the same music of Reggaetonno I subsequently deposited a second piece, entitled ‘Che balls il Reggaeton’. It went better “.