Justin Bieber and the co-writers of the hit song “Sorry” are facing a lawsuit for allegedly stealing a vocal riff from an indie artist, but his producer recently responded that they did not steal anything.
White Hinterland, whose real name is Casey Dienel, claimed that “Sorry” infringes on her copyright to the song, “Ring the Bell” that was released a year earlier than the Bieber track.
In a Facebook post, Dienel said her lawyers informed her about the song and they sent a letter to Bieber about it and also offered a private dialogue but Bieber's side ignored her.
"Justin Bieber is the world’s biggest artist, and I’m sure that he and his team will launch a full attack against me. But, in the end, I was left with no other option. I believe I have an obligation to stand up for my music and art,” Dienel said, according to Entertainment Weekly.
In a public complaint, Dienel said that "Sorry" used a “virtually identical” riff to her song “Ring the Bell” without permission. She also said that the song adopted the “specific and unique characteristics of the female vocal riff” which is found on the first eight seconds of Bieber's hit song and several times after that.
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages which includes profits generated by the hit song. She also wants Bieber to stop circulating the riff.
In response, Skrillex posted a video during the song's writing session showing the original a capella version of the song. It is captioned “SORRY but we didn't steal this.” Bieber retweeted the post with hashtags #wedontsteal and #sorry.
Apart from Bieber, other defendants of the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in Nashville, include producer Skrillex and Vivendi’s Universal Music Group.
This is not the first time that Bieber has faced a lawsuit. Earlier this month, a Houston club patron also sued him for $100,000, claiming that Bieber smashed his phone last month after he tried to take a video of him.
Two weeks after that, Plaintiff Team Productions filed a $650,000 defamation suit against the pop star saying that Bieber said something inappropriate about the company on social media, NY Daily News reported.
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