Christian Nodal has momentarily fought his first legal battle with Universal Music. The regional Mexican singer appeared on Tuesday 18 November in a hearing that lasted more than 16 hours and in which he was accompanied by his parents, Jesús Jaime González Terrazas and Silvia Cristina Nodal Jiménez: the three are accused by Universal of having falsified documents in support of a civil lawsuit filed against the record company, in 2021, in which Sonoran claims the rights to 50 songs. The lawsuit began after the artist decided to sign with Sony Music and not renew his contract with Universal that same year. This Wednesday, November 19, Sonorans spoke to the media as they exited the Federal Criminal Justice Center, located near Oriente Prison. He said he was satisfied with the judge’s decision not to involve the Nodal family in the trial. “We’ve been here for about 17 hours,” the artist said as he left the audience. “It was worth it; it’s satisfying that we were not linked. Just as the lawyer was given the opportunity to say that there were 33 false documents and that they were forging signatures, (I want) to tell you that a judge has already ruled that there is no connection, there is not even a single piece of paper that justifies that we forged any document,” he added.
The FGR issued a statement to clarify that the judge did not exonerate either the artist or the family, “he simply established that there is another trial, of a civil nature, and we must await its outcome for the criminal action to proceed or not”, we read.
The origin of the controversy
Christian Nodal was 17 years old when he signed his contract with Universal Music in 2017. Being a minor, his parents acted as his legal representatives. In 2021, the artist and his family filed a civil lawsuit against Universal Music Grupo México for failing to reach an agreement to renew or cancel the contract signed with them four years earlier. At the same time as both parties tried to reach an agreement, Nodal performed several duets – with Banda MS and Belinda, to name a few – and Universal approached the Mexican Association of Phonogram and Videogram Producers to have them impose a veto on the artist. The organization asked businessmen and artists to “refrain from hiring, disseminating, producing, distributing, marketing, exploiting and/or selling the singer’s sound productions.”
Nodal subsequently obtained protection and clarified the situation through a video broadcast live from his Instagram account. “Something crazy is happening. Many fans are worried about what is being said about me. I want to leave everyone alone and help me spread this video because it is impossible for them to continue to forcefully commit this type of slavery of artists with record labels,” the singer said.
In the 2021 lawsuit, Nodals claimed copyright to 50 songs. However, Universal Music countersued the artist in 2024 for breach of contract and damages. As reported by this newspaper, Ulrich Richter Morales, legal representative of the Universal Music record company, asked FGR to continue the case after having identified irregularities and inconsistencies in more than 30 documents provided by the Nodal family: false documents and signatures with which Universal would have transferred the rights to the regional Mexican singer.
Richter Morales explained in an interview for Radiofórmula in October 2025 that the original agreement stipulated that the man from Sonora would be the interpreter of the songs, but the owner of the works would be the record label. He also added that if the rights were transferred to the artist, he would receive about 30 million pesos in royalties, money that Nodal’s lawyers say he received in cash. “In this matter, which is very delicate, we see suspicious transactions. Irregular activities accumulate here. If the contracts are true, you have made a mixture of suspicious transactions,” the lawyer said.
