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 By a 3-0 vote, the 4th U.S. 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.
The plaintiffs claimed that three versions of the song "Somebody
to Love" recorded by Bieber, Usher or both shared the beat
pattern, time signature, and similar chords and lyrics with
their song with 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.
Among the other defendants were publishers such as Vivendi SA's
Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony Corp's Sony/ATV Music
Publishing.
Defense lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
Duncan Byers, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, in an interview said
the panel "recognized what my clients have said all along: it's
the same melody and the same chorus."
The lawsuit will return to the lower court.
One version of "Somebody to Love," recorded by Bieber and
credited to him as a co-writer, peaked at No. 15 on the
Billboard Hot 100 in 2010.
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The plaintiffs alleged that music scouts had played their song,
which was written in 2008, for Usher, who liked what he heard and
then brought it to Bieber.
U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen dismissed the lawsuit in
March 2014, saying no reasonable jury could find copyright
infringement.
Harris, though, said even the lyric "somebody to love" was delivered
in an "almost identical rhythm and a strikingly similar melody."
The judge also said it did not matter that the Bieber and Usher
versions qualified as "dance pop, perhaps with hints of electronica"
while the Copeland version was "squarely" R&B.
She said to rule otherwise could give artists too wide a berth to
profit from others' songs, such as through unlicensed reggae or
heavy metal versions of the Beatles' "Hey Jude" that had a different
"concept and feel."
The case is Copeland et al v. Bieber et al, 4th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals, No. 14-1427.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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