BTS 'Swim' copyright lawsuit concluded with plaintiff's voluntary withdrawal

The plagiarism lawsuit in the United States surrounding BTS’s fifth regular album title track ″Swim″ has been concluded with the plaintiff’s voluntary withdrawal. According to local media such as Billboard, the plaintiffs’ legal representatives for composers Steve Cooper, John Sandler, and Graylin Johnson submitted a dismissal request to the Central District Court of California on the 4th (local time) to dismiss the entire lawsuit. This brought the case to a close about four months after the lawsuit was filed in July. The plaintiffs filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against HYBE, HYBE America, BigHit Music, Ryan Tedder, and the songwriting team of ″Swim,″ claiming that an unpublished demo song completed in March last year was substantially similar to ″Swim.″ They argued that the melody, chorus, harmony, rhythm, and lyrics were similar, submitting analysis materials from musicologists as evidence, and demanded damages and profit sharing. BTS and the members were not included as defendants. At the time of the lawsuit filing, BigHit Music stated, ″This lawsuit is merely the unilateral claim of the plaintiffs. We clearly state that ’Swim’ is an independent creation.″ The lawsuit was quickly resolved due to the plaintiffs’ successive withdrawals before the defendants submitted an official response. The lawsuit against BigHit Music was withdrawn first at the end of September, followed by the cancellation of all lawsuits against all defendants. Whether the parties reached a settlement has not been disclosed. Meanwhile, on October 22, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the amended complaint in another copyright lawsuit filed by Melissa Mays against BTS, BigHit Music, HYBE, HYBE America, and others, ruling in favor of the defendants. Melissa Mays claimed that her unpublished song was used without permission, but the court found that the complaint did not meet legal requirements. BTS’s ″Swim″ reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was selected as Song of the Year at the 2026 MTV VMA.