'Swim' by BTS faces copyright infringement lawsuit in the US

BTS' “Swim,” off the group's comeback album “Arirang,” is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States.

On July 8, independent songwriters Steve Cooper, Jon Sandler, and Greylyn Johnson filed a lawsuit against HYBE, along with its subsidiaries HYBE America and BTS' agency, Big Hit, alleging that "Swim" was plagiarized from their unreleased demo.

Individual BTS members — Jung Kook, V, Jimin, Suga, RM, Jin, and J-Hope — are not named in the lawsuit.

The songwriters argue the similarities between their unreleased demo and “Swim” are too significant to be dismissed as mere coincidence.

In the complaint, they claim the similarities are "obvious" and "inescapable," alleging the BTS track infringes on their copyrights.

“Upon listening several times to the musical composition entitled ‘Swim’ embodied on the BTS ‘Arirang’ album, Plaintiffs came to what they considered to be an obvious and inescapable conclusion that the BTS musical composition entitled ‘Swim’ copied in very large part the Original Work and clearly infringed their copyrights in and to the Original Work,” the plaintiffs wrote.

The lawsuit further alleges the unreleased demo was initially sent to executives at Artist Publishing Group, a Los Angeles-based independent music publisher and record label, who then allegedly shared the recording with the “Swim” songwriters.

Big Hit has denied the allegations and maintained that “Swim” is an independent creation, The Korea Herald reports.

"The allegations in the lawsuit are unilateral and unsubstantiated. We will respond firmly through the appropriate legal process,” the statement read.

BTS released 'Swim' in March as the lead track of “Arirang.”

The K-pop group kicked off their world tour in April in South Korea, following the release of “Arirang.”

BTS is headed to Bulacan for a two-night concert in March 2027.

They are also set to headline the iHeartRadio music festival in September. — Hermes Joy Tunac/LA, GMA News