Alok wins case against musician who accused him of violating copyright in ‘Un Ratito’

Alok won the legal fight against musician Kevin, from the duo Seveen, which had been going on since 2022. The court considered that the DJ was the creator of the work “Un Ratito” and that there were no irregularities with the copyright of the work.

In 2022, Kevin sued the DJ for unauthorized use of one of his compositions in “Un Ratito”, a track by Alok in partnership with Juliette, Luis Fonsi, Lunay and Lenny Tavárez. According to him, the song had been released without authorization and would have elements of the track “Let’s Make Love (nanana)” from 2026.

Alok’s defense told the court that “Un Ratito” would be an adaptation of the work “nananana Un Ratito”. The DJ’s lawyers also stated that, even if he was not the only composer of the original work, Kevin had expressly authorized the adaptation and recording of the work with the new arrangements.

The song was removed from YouTube, at the request of the American singer. However, the court ordered that the banner be returned soon after.

This week, the São Paulo Court declared that Alok is the creator of the work “nananana Un Ratito” and that, therefore, “Un Ratito” is also his creation.

The document also says that Kevin Brauer must refrain from taking any action that could interfere with the broadcast of music on digital platforms, under penalty of a daily fine of R$1,000.

The singer must also pay compensation for moral damages in the amount of R$20,000 and bear procedural costs and expenses.

The case became public for the first time after a complaint by the Brauer brothers to Billboard magazine, which specializes in music coverage. They said that the Brazilian DJ had not credited the duo Sevenn on 14 songs, including “Um Ratito”.

Although they are Americans, the Braue brothers lived until they were 20 years old in a religious community in Rio de Janeiro, according to Billboard. They had a studio at home, where they were also educated, but they rarely left there and didn’t even have access to the internet.

It was then that, at 16, Sean ran away to go to a rave on the island of Guaratiba and fell in love with electronic music, deciding he wanted to be a DJ. He then worked for about a decade as a “ghost producer”, that is, anonymously producing hits by famous singers.

Sean told Billboard that he met Alok in 2015, and went on to work for the DJ with his brother Kevin. Now, the pair claim the partnership was “commercially abusive.” Among the songs they would have produced for the Brazilian DJ are “All I Want”, “Fuego” and “Favela”, three of Alok’s biggest hits.

The brothers also told the magazine that they are the true authors of Brazilian bass, as the musical subgenre of house music is called that emerged from “Hear Me Now”, Alok’s hit that propelled him to global stardom.

“At first, Alok helped us. In gratitude, we returned the favor, until we began to realize that he was making a lot of profit from our work without offering anything substantial in return,” the brothers told Billboard.