Logo

Reuters

Justin Bieber and Usher Face $10 Million Lawsuit

Jun 19, 2015  •  Post A Comment

A U.S. appeals court has ruled that Justin Bieber and Usher must face a $10 million copyright lawsuit accusing them of copying parts of a song written by two Virginia songwriters, Reuters reports.

The ruling Thursday in Copeland et al v. Bieber et al revives a May 2013 suit filed by Devin Copeland, an R&B artist who goes by the name De Rico, and his songwriting partner, Mareio Overton. On a 3-0 vote, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled that a lower court judge was wrong to dismiss the suit.

“The plaintiffs claimed that three versions of the song ‘Somebody to Love’ recorded by Bieber, Usher or both shared the beat pattern, time signature, and similar chords and lyrics with their song with the same name,” Reuters reports.

Writing for the appeals court, Circuit Judge Pamela Harris wrote: “After listening to the Copeland song and the Bieber and Usher songs as wholes, we conclude that their choruses are similar enough and also significant enough that a reasonable jury could find the songs intrinsically similar.”

Here’s the Justin Bieber-Usher version:

One Comment

  1. That is nice of you to plug the bieber/usher version. It would have been nice to have a link to the competing version.

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)