Justin Bieber and Usher faced with $10 million lawsuit
June 22, 2015 10:45 am Leave your thoughts
This past Thursday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Justin Bieber and Usher had to face a $10 million lawsuit thrown at them by two Virginia based songwriters. The ruling was decided with a unanimous 3-0 vote.
The lawsuit was first filed in 2013 by Devin Copeland, an R&B singer who goes by the stage name De Rico, as well as his songwriting partner Mareio Overton. The suit claims that three recordings of the song "Somebody to Love" (done by Bieber and Usher individually, as well as a joint recording) had the same beat pattern and time signature as there own song. They also claim that the Bieber and Usher recordings have similar chords and lyrics.
Circuit Judge Pamela Harris wrote in her opinion that "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."
The plaintiffs say that their song was originally played for Usher by music scouts in 2008, and that Usher later brought the song to Bieber.
The case was originally dismissed in March of 2014 by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen, who claimed that no reasonable jury would be able to find a case for copyright infringement.
According to Harris, one of the main issues of the case is the variance in genres from the Copeland version of the song to the Bieber version. The former is strictly R&B, while the other is classified as dance pop. She said to rule that the case could not go to trial on those grounds would make it too easy for artists to profit from each other's work without permission.
If you believe that someone else is profiting off of your own work without your permission, it's important to contact a skilled business attorney as soon as possible. A lawyer can help protect your rights in case of litigation, and get you just compensation.
Categorised in: Entertainment Law, Intellectual Property Law
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