A case in which pop star Shakira’s 2010 hit single Loca was found to be an illegal copy of a Dominican songwriter’s work came crashing down on Monday when a US judge said the songwriter had lied to the court and the cassette tape on which his claims were based is a fake.

“Here was a basic issue of fraud in the trial,” said US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan, dismissing the copyright infringement case against Sony/ATV Latin and Sony/ATV Discos.

Last August, Hellerstein ruled that Shakira’s Spanish-language chart-topper, and another song by a Dominican rapper known as El Cata, illegally ripped off a recording by Ramon Arias Vasquez called Loca con su Tiguere. The judge found the Sony units liable for distributing the infringing songs.

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