Wilfrido Vargas Ordered to Pay US$231,000

Published Saturday 14 November 2026. Source: the court ruling and the parties.

A Santo Domingo court has ordered merengue bandleader Wilfrido Vargas and his company to pay RD$14 million (Dominican pesos, about US$231,000) to a fellow musician over the dance song “El baile del perrito”. The first-instance ruling says Juan Valdez Ybet helped write part of the song and went unrecognised as a co-author for more than 30 years.

A Dominican Court Rules on a Merengue Hit

The trial-level civil court in Santo Domingo has ordered Dominican merengue bandleader Wilfrido Vargas and his company, Corporación Wilfrido Vargas, S.R.L., to pay RD$14 million (about US$231,000) to musician Juan Valdez Ybet. The ruling is dated Wednesday 28 October 2026, was reported on 14 November, and concerns the song “El baile del perrito”.

The case touches a question few dancers ask: who wrote the song? Credit disputes like this show how a court weighs old recordings and testimony when authorship is contested.

The court ordered both defendants to pay jointly RD$12 million (about US$198,000) in moral damages and RD$2 million (about US$33,000) in patrimonial, or lost-income, damages. The US$ figures use 60.59 pesos per dollar, the close of market-data provider RT on 14 November 2026.

Valdez had claimed RD$100 million (about US$1.65 million), split evenly at RD$50 million (about US$825,000) for each kind of damages. The court awarded 14 per cent of the total he sought.

What We Know

The Second Chamber of the Civil and Commercial Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the National District heard the case. Judge Nidia Victoria Jorge Taveras decided it in Judgment No. 035-2026-SSEN-01198, dated Wednesday 28 October 2026.

The court found that Valdez took part in creating the lyrics and the melody of part B of the song. It held that he was not only the arranger.

The court heard testimony from musicians Ramón Orlando, Alejandro Abrahán Martínez Rodríguez and Santiago Delgado Veloz. It also reviewed audiovisual material and a recording, first made on cassette and later digitised.

On that recording, Vargas, Valdez and a third person, Frantoni Santana, talk while the song takes shape. According to the ruling, Vargas voices dissatisfaction with an initial melody and asks Valdez for a new proposal.

Vargas’s 2018 memoir, “Me volviste loco, Wilfrido”, was also cited as evidence. It names Valdez among the composers who contributed.

Orlando put Valdez’s share of the song at about 70 per cent. The court did not adopt that percentage.

The court also ordered the defendants to publish the operative part of the ruling in a national newspaper at their own expense. They must also pay court costs.

The court rejected a daily penalty, known as an astreinte. It also found inadmissible a request to register Valdez as co-author with publishers and platforms, because it was raised late.

What the Defence Argued

Vargas’s lawyers argued in court that Valdez was only a paid arranger, credited on the album “Itinerario”. They said arranging does not give anyone rights over the composition itself.

They also argued that the claim was time-barred after more than 30 years. The court rejected that argument, citing Law 65-00, the Dominican copyright law.

Under article 17 of that law, moral rights are imprescriptible (they never expire), inalienable and perpetual. Under article 21, as the court applied it, patrimonial rights last for the author’s life plus 70 years.

The judge said exact lost royalties since the 1990s could not be established. The amount was therefore set under article 177, paragraph III.

The RD$12 million (about US$198,000) in moral damages reflects, in the court’s reasoning, the lack of recognition for more than 30 years. The RD$2 million (about US$33,000) patrimonial award stands in for lost income the court could not calculate exactly.

Why the Ruling Matters

The mechanism is simple: Law 65-00 treats the right to be named as an author as one that never expires. That let a claim more than 30 years old end in RD$12 million (about US$198,000) in moral damages.

For listeners anywhere, the case is a reminder that a dance-floor favourite can carry a contested authorship story. It also shows a Dominican court weighing old tapes, witness accounts and a memoir, not only album credits.

What Is Not Known

No comment from Vargas or his company on the ruling was found, so it is not known whether they will appeal. It is also not known whether the ruling can be appealed, or what the deadline would be.

The reported terms of the ruling do not say how royalties will be handled from here. That question remains open.

What It Means for Readers

Readers who follow Latin music should note that this is a first-instance civil ruling, not a final word. It settles a dispute over credit and compensation and does not accuse anyone of a crime.

In the Dominican Republic, the decision shows how a court treats an arranger who claims to be an author. The test here was evidence of creative contribution to lyrics and melody, not the label on an album credit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who must pay whom?

Wilfrido Vargas and his company, Corporación Wilfrido Vargas, S.R.L., must jointly pay musician Juan Valdez Ybet RD$14 million (about US$231,000). The first-instance ruling is dated 28 October 2026.

What is “El baile del perrito”?

It is a merengue dance song known as the dog dance. The court found Valdez helped create the lyrics and melody of its part B.

Is this a criminal case?

No, it is a civil dispute over credit and compensation. The court ordered payment and publication of the ruling, not any criminal penalty.

Will Vargas appeal?

It is not known whether Vargas or his company will appeal, and no comment on the ruling was found. The ruling is a first-instance decision, and no appeal deadline has been confirmed.