Copeland et al. v. Bieber et al.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a
district court decision dismissing a copyright infringement claim
in a case involving a copyrighted song and a later recording by
Justin Bieber concluding that that "their choruses are similar
enough and also significant enough that a reasonable jury could
find the songs intrinsically similar." The case was remanded
for further proceedings. Copeland et al. v. Bieber et al.,
Case No. 14-14274 (4th Cir., June 18, 2015) (Harris, J.)
The plaintiff, Devin Copeland, together with Mareio Overton
created a song called "Somebody to Love" in 2008.
Copeland registered a copyright for the work. In 2009, Copeland
gave a copy of the song to a company that recruits artists,
Sangreel Media, to promote the music. Sangreel in turn presented
the song to the singer Usher. According to Copeland's
complaint, Usher was interested in having Copeland re-record the
album and join Usher on tour. These
