Is BTS’s “Swim” plagiarized? U.S. songwriters sue…BigHit counters with “an independent creative work”

(Seoul=News1) Reporter Hwang Mi-hyun = It has been alleged that BTS's global mega-hit song 'SWIM' plagiarized a song by U.S. composers. In response, BigHit Music, BTS's agency, said it was an "independent work," rejecting the claim.

BigHit Music told News1 on the 10th that "the lawsuit is merely the plaintiff's unilateral claim" and that "we clearly state that 'SWIM' is an independent work, and we plan to respond firmly in future legal proceedings."

Previously, Billboard U.S. reported on the 9th (local time) that composers Steve John Sandler and Graylin Johnson filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in a U.S. court on the 8th, claiming that BTS's 'SWIM' and their demo song of the same title were similar.

According to the complaint, the three plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against HYBE, HYBE America, BigHit Music, and Ryan Tedder, a member of the band OneRepublic and one of the composers of 'SWIM.' However, they did not name RM, one of the composers, as a defendant.

The three plaintiffs claim that since March of last year, they have sent the songs they created to the publishing group and others in the industry, and that in the process, the songs they made were shared with some of the 'SWIM' composers.

Alexander Stewart, a musicology researcher hired by the plaintiffs to analyze the song, also claimed about the similarity of 'SWIM' that "from the hook that mentions the title to the harmony, texture, rhythm, and lyrics, there are similarities" and that it is "not an original BTS creation, but a copied song."

'SWIM' is the title track of BTS's fifth full-length album 'Arirang,' released in March after the members completed their military hiatus. The song has topped major charts at home and abroad and is loved by people around the world.