The lawsuit between Christian Nodal and Universal Music continues. The record company filed an appeal with the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Mexico City, after it ruled in favor of the Mexican regional artist regarding a charge of alleged contract forgery. Cristian Nodal had his first legal battle with Universal on November 19, when he went to the Justice Center, located next to the Oriente prison, accompanied by his parents, Jesús Jaime González Terrazas and Silvia Cristina Nodal Jiménez: the three are accused of forging documents in support of a civil suit filed against the record company, in 2021, in which Sonoran claims the rights to 50 songs. The dispute began after the artist decided to sign with Sony Music and not renew his contract with Universal in the same year.
On December 1, the accused party’s lawyers and the Public Prosecutor’s Office decided to continue the legal attack. The statement read: “The judiciary in Criminal Case No.: 497/2025 received new procedural upgrades related to the progress of the case. Among them, it stands out that both the FGR and the Special Legal Counsel of the aggrieved party filed an appeal against the decision issued on November 19, 2025 by the Federal Judge, Diana Celine Medina Hernandez.” Nodal and his parents have three days to file a formal response.
The origin of the dispute
Christian Nodal was 17 years old when he signed his contract with Universal Music in 2017. Since he was a minor, his parents served as his legal representatives. In 2021, the artist and his family filed a civil suit against Universal Music Grupo México after they failed to reach an agreement to renew or cancel the contract he signed with them four years ago. At the same time that the two parties were trying to reach an agreement, Nodal performed several duets – with Banda MS and Belinda, to name a few – and Universal approached the Mexican Association of Phonographic and Video Producers to have them implement a veto over the artist. The organization asked businessmen and artists to “refrain from employing, disclosing, manufacturing, distributing, marketing, exploiting and/or selling the singer’s vocal productions.”
After that, Akdi obtained protection and explained the situation through a video that he broadcast live from his Instagram account. The singer said: “There is something crazy going on. Many fans are worried about what is being said about me. I want to keep everyone calm and help me spread this video because it is impossible for them to continue committing this kind of slavery of artists with record companies by force.”
In the 2021 lawsuit, the Nodals claimed copyrights on 50 songs. However, Universal Music sued the artist in 2024 for breach of contract and damages. As this newspaper reported, Ulrich Richter Morales, the legal representative of Universal Music’s record label, asked FGR to prosecute the case after identifying irregularities and discrepancies in more than 30 documents submitted by Nodal’s family: false papers and signatures in which Universal allegedly transferred the rights to the Mexican regional singer.
Richter Morales explained in an interview with Radiofórmula in October 2025 that the original agreement stipulated that the man from Sonora would be the performer of the songs, but the owner of the works would be the record company. He also added that had the rights been transferred to the artist, he would have received about P30 million in royalties, money Nodal’s legal team claims he received in cash. The lawyer said: “In this matter, which is a very sensitive matter, we see suspicious operations. Here there is an accumulation of irregular activities. If the contracts are correct, then you have carried out a mixture of suspicious operations.”
In November 2025, when Nodal addressed the media after the hearing, which lasted about 20 hours, he said: “Just as the lawyer had the opportunity to say that there were 33 forged documents and that they were forging signatures, (I want) to tell him that the 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.”
FGR later issued a statement in which it clarified that the judge did not acquit the artist or the family, “but simply decided that there is another trial, of a civil nature, and the result must be waited for in order for the criminal case to continue, or not.”