US copyright lawsuit over BTS song 'Swim' dropped: report
K-pop group BTS / Captured from BTS' X
American songwriters who earlier claimed that Korean superband BTS' chart-topping song "Swim" was copied from their own demo have withdrawn their claims in a U.S. lawsuit, a report showed Thursday.
The attorneys for the accusers, who are three little-known songwriters, requested the judge to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety in a court filing dated Wednesday (U.S. time), according to the Billboard.
The move comes about four months after the songwriters — Steve Cooper, Jon Sandler and Greylyn Johnson — filed a lawsuit in July, claiming that "Swim" bears "substantial similarities" to their own song of the same name.
The plaintiffs had named HYBE, HYBE America and BigHit Music as defendants, along with the song's credited writers, including former OneRepublic member Ryan Tedder. Neither BTS nor its members were listed as defendants, although RM is credited as one of the songwriters on the track.
Hybe is the parent company of BigHit Music, while Hybe America is the American unit of Hybe.
In response, BigHit Music had rejected the allegations as "one-sided" claims, maintaining that "Swim" was an independent creation, and vowed to firmly respond through legal proceedings.
"Swim," the lead track of BTS' fifth full-length album, "ARIRANG," debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 in March, becoming the group's seventh No. 1 hit on the main singles chart.