Artist Believes Bieber, Usher Violated Copyright with Recording

For the last few years, Justin Bieber has become one of the world’s biggest pop stars. Although the singer has seen tremendous success at such a young age, he is currently facing a legal challenge for copyright issues relating to the 2010 song “Somebody to Love,” which may be familiar to fans in Miami. Hip-hop star Usher has also been named in the legal claim.

According to the intellectual property suit, Bieber and Usher intentionally stole several musical elements from a song by the same name recorded and written by a less famous artist. The suit says that the song was registered with the U.S. Copyright office in October 2010.

The suit filed against the major music stars indicates that there are a total of “17 musical similarities” between the two songs. In this kind of case, the more musical similarities between two works, if verified, can help provide strength to the copyright infringement claim.

As artists are going through the creative process to write a new song, any number of things can come to influence them. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that an artist was inadvertently influenced by another song. In this case, however, it appears as though Usher’s representatives were in contact with the artist filing the claim about the possibility of touring with him before the legal claim arose.

Protecting unique work is important for an artist. If someone has spent time creating something, they deserve to have their ideas protected. This may be especially true for emerging artists who may feel as though they don’t have the power to protect their original work. Yet it’s critical for artists in this position to understand that the law may be on their side. That is why it is important to have an intellectual property attorney in Miami to advise you when it comes to your work and copyright.

Source: ABC News, “Usher, Bieber Sued for Copyright Infringement Over ‘Somebody to Love’,” May 7, 2013

Find an intellectual property lawyer Miami here.

Barry Chase

Barry Chase, Esq., Senior Partner at ChaseLawyers®, is a distinguished figure in the realm of sports and entertainment law, offering Harvard-level representation that is both cost-sensitive and exceptional. An honors graduate of Yale College (Phi Beta Kappa) and Harvard Law School, Chase's illustrious career commenced at a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm, now known as Wilmer Hale. Here, he honed his expertise in Communications and First Amendment law, representing media titans such as CBS, the Times-Mirror Company, and Time, Inc. in pivotal Federal Communications Commission (FCC) matters.

Comments are closed.