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Justin Bieber, Usher Face Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
Author: Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC
Date: May 15, 2013
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Justin Bieber has been inundated with lawsuits for various reasons as of late. Most recently, he and his collaborator Usher are now in hot water for copyright infringement violations.
R&B singer Devin Copeland and songwriter Mareio Overton filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Virginia against Bieber and his mentor alleging that the hit single “Somebody to Love” features several lyrical and stylistic similarities to the song they wrote in 2008. Incidentally, the song Copeland and Overton say they wrote also features the same name.
The duo, which claims that a number of producers conspired to reproduce the song, is suing Bieber and Usher for $10 million for entertainment law violations that include copyright infringement, contributory infringement, and vicarious infringement.
Copeland and Overton explained that they provided a copy of the song to musical promoters, who then passed the track along to Usher in 2009. Copeland was then contacted by Usher’s mother, who serves as his manager, and asked to re-record the album and tour with Usher that summer. However, he did not hear back from Usher. In 2010, Bieber then released his version of “Somebody to Love,” with Usher singing the backup vocals.
The lawsuit specifically mentions 17 musical similarities to Copeland’s version, including a scalar 7-chord to start the chorus, the same hook in the chorus, and the same repeating underlying “Keystone” beat pattern, according to ABC News.
“There is essentially a zero probability for the number of points of congruence between the two versions of ‘Somebody to Love,'” Copeland and Overton said, according to Reuters.
- Industries: Entertainment & Media
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