Justin Bieber, Dan+Shay sued for copyright infringement over Grammy-winning '10,000 hours'

Pop-singer Justin Bieber and country music duo Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney have been sued in a copyright case for hitmaker 10,000 hours. The companies suing Justin Bieber and Dan + Shay have alleged that Justin Bieber and the country duo stole the core portion of the 1973 song The First Time Baby Is A Holiday, originally written by Palmer Rakes and Frank Fioravanti. They also claimed that 10,000 hours includes the chorus, verse and hook from the '70s number.

The companies suing Justin Bieber and Dan + Shay are International Manufacturing Concepts, Melomega music and Sound Gems.

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Justin Bieber, Dan + Shay copyright case

According to People, which has seen the legal documents, the current lawsuit claims that The First Time Baby Is A Holiday, was released in 2014, nearly five years before 10,000 Hours. It alleges that there are "unmistakable similarities" in the latter. The companies that have filed the lawsuit are now demanding credit on the track, along with money in damages, statutory damages, and attorney fees. The owners of The First Time Baby Is a Holiday are also seeking an injunction that would halt further distribution of the song.

Here are the two songs for comparison:

10,000 hours was released in October 2019 as the lead single off Dan + Shay’s 2021 studio album Good Things. 10,000 hours garnered a lot of success. It ranked No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and scored a Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

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Ed Sheeran and Katy Perry recently won copyright cases

Ed Sheeran and Katy Perry recently won separate copyright cases. While Ed Sheeran was sued for his 2017 hit single Shape of You, Katy Perry was sued for Dark Horse.

Sami Chokri, who sued Sheeran, had claimed that Shape of You had striking similarities to his song Oh Why.

After winning the case, Sheeran, in a statement, said:

“While we’re obviously happy with the result, I feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there’s no base for the claim.”

Katy Perry’s lawsuit started in 2014 when she was sued by Marcus Gray for allegedly plagiarizing from his track Joyful Noise. She was ordered to pay $2.8 million but a judge later overturned the previous verdict from the jury.