BTS’ SWIM Wrapped in Plagiarism Accusations, BIGHIT MUSIC Plans Rebuttal Lawsuit

K-pop group BTS’ latest hit track "SWIM" has gotten wrapped up in copying allegations. The all-English tune is the lead single off the team’s fifth studio album, "ARIRANG", and was dropped alongside 13 other tracks as part of their first post-military comeback. Following its release on March 20 earlier this year, the song has managed to gather millions of streams across music platforms and has continued its global appeal. The septet’s management label has denied the accusations. 

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As per a Billboard report, three US-based songwriters, Steve Cooper, John Sandler and Greylyn Johnson, have filed a case of plagiarism against HYBE, HYBE America, BIGHIT MUSIC and Ryan Tedder, who were the forces behind the song. The complaint was filed on Wednesday in the United States. They claim that "SWIM" is significantly similar to an unreleased demo track of the same name written by them. Furthermore, they share that multiple demos of theirs were shared with music industry figures from March of last year, including some writers on the K-pop team’s side. 

So far, it is not known whether any BTS members have been named as defendants in this case. Leader RM (real name Kim Nam Joon) is one of the key composers of the 2-minute 39-second song.

The listed "SWIM" producers are Tyler Spry and Leclair, while the songwriters include James Essien, Sean Foreman, Tyler Spry, Jamison Baken, Ryan Tedder, RM, Kirsten Allyssa Spencer, Derrick Milano, and Pdogg. 

Responding to the accusations, the South Korean label shared, as per Korean media The Chosun Daily, “The lawsuit is merely a one-sided claim by the plaintiffs. We clearly state that ‘SWIM’ is an independently created work.” They added that legal proceedings will follow soon.