Justin Bieber and Usher were ordered by a US appeals court on Thursday to face a $10 million (about R121.3m) suit claiming they had illegally copied parts of a song composed by two Virginia songwriters.
The song in question, as released by Bieber, is the 2010 single ‘Somebody to Love’.
By a 3-0 vote, the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond revived a May 2013 lawsuit by Devin Copeland, an R&B singer known as De Rico, and his songwriting partner Mareio Overton, saying a lower court judge was wrong to dismiss it.
Copeland and De Rico claimed that three versions of the song recorded by Bieber, Usher or both shared the beat pattern, time signature, and similar chords and lyrics as their song of the same name.
"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," Circuit Judge Pamela Harris wrote for the appeals court.
Defence lawyers did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Duncan Byers, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, has said the panel "recognised what my clients have said all along: it's the same melody and the same chorus."
The lawsuit will return to the lower court.
Reuters and IOL