Shakira's Loca hit back under scrutiny amid allegations copyright plaintiffs lied

A New York judge who previously ruled Shakira's 2010 hit Loca was illegally copied from a little-known tune from the 1990s has re-opened the case, amid allegations the Dominican songwriter lied in his trial testimony.

Shakira's record label bosses at Sony, the defendants in the case, lost the two-year legal battle in 2014, after Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled in favor of Mayimba Music executives, who alleged the Spanish-language single infringed on the work of Ramon Arias Vasquez, who wrote Loca con su Tiguere in the late 1990s. They own the rights to his music.

However, Sony executives have since uncovered new evidence to suggest the cassette tape Aria Vasquez's track was reportedly recorded on in 1998 was fabricated, and actually only made in 2011, when it was registered for copyright.

Sony bosses claim the songwriter knowingly lied about the tape in court, and now Judge Hellerstein has ordered the two parties to appear in court for a seven-day hearing in August (15) to examine the new evidence.

In a court order dated 30 April (15), the judge noted that if the news proves true, it would show that the plaintiff "attempted to commit a fraud upon this court, going so far as to fabricate evidence and to commit perjury".