Songwriters Sue HYBE Over BTS Hit Swim

By Enrique Cheang, E.C.V. & Asociados

A copyright dispute in the United States has placed BTS's single "Swim" at the center of a legal battle involving the group's label, Big Hit Music, and its parent company, HYBE. On July 8, songwriters Steve Cooper, Jon Sandler and Greylyn Johnson filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that "Swim"—the lead single from BTS's album "Arirang"—reproduces a composition they wrote and recorded under the same title in early 2025. Big Hit Music rejected the claim two days later, describing the song as an independent creation and stating it would respond through the appropriate legal channels.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs completed their demo in March 2025 and began circulating it among industry contacts, including the publishing company Artist Publishing Group, in an effort to place the song with an artist. The filing states that representatives at the publisher listened to the track and shared it with other collaborators, among them Derrick Milano, a songwriter affiliated with the same publisher who is later credited as a co-writer on BTS's version. As supporting evidence, the plaintiffs submitted a listening report from the platform Disco.ac, which they say documents that the demo was played by those representatives, along with a registration certificate from the U.S. Copyright Office for their composition.

To bolster their case, the songwriters retained musicologist Alexander Stewart to compare the two recordings. According to the complaint, Stewart's analysis concluded that independent creation of the BTS track could be ruled out. Access to a prior work is generally a required element in U.S. copyright infringement claims, alongside substantial similarity between the two compositions; the plaintiffs' narrative is built around establishing that chain of access through the publisher and the songwriters who later worked on "Swim."

The lawsuit names HYBE Co., HYBE America and Big Hit Music as corporate defendants, together with several songwriters credited on "Swim," including Derrick Milano, James Essien and Ryan Tedder, a Grammy-winning writer and former OneRepublic frontman known for his work with other major recording artists. BTS's members are not named as defendants, nor are RM and producer Pdogg, both of whom are credited as writers on the track. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction against further use of the song, monetary damages and a share of the profits it has generated; alternatively, they are asking to be recognized as co-writers of most of the composition. The complaint states that the parties attempted to resolve the matter before litigation but did not reach an agreement.

"Swim" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, marking BTS's seventh chart-topping single in the United States, while "Arirang" opened at number one on the Billboard 200. The commercial success of the release is likely to factor into the scope of damages sought should the case proceed.

This is the third U.S. copyright complaint filed against HYBE and its affiliated labels within a two-month span. In May, four Los Angeles-based songwriters sued HYBE, its label ADOR and the group NewJeans over the 2024 single "How Sweet," alleging the track was developed using elements of a demo the plaintiffs had submitted and later been told was not selected; ADOR denied that any copying or infringement occurred. On July 7, the New York-based publisher All Surface Publishing filed a separate suit against the same companies concerning NewJeans' 2023 track "ETA," claiming it used elements of a 2005 composition to which the publisher holds rights; the label has stated it is reviewing internal records related to the matter.

Copyright disputes involving demo submissions and songwriting credits are a recurring feature of the global music industry, particularly as major labels and artists increasingly rely on outside writers and publishers to develop material intended for commercial release. None of the allegations described above have been proven in court, and the outcome of the "Swim" case, along with the related NewJeans litigation, will depend on further proceedings before the California federal court.