The song “Swim” by the South Korean K-pop group BTS, which became a worldwide hit, was accused of borrowing from the demo recording of three American authors Steve Cooper, John Sandler and Graylyn Johnson. As Billboard notes, the suing trio claims that they sent their song to publishers last March and a year later discovered that BTS' song was “significantly similar” to it.
Swim became the lead single from BTS' album Arirang, which was released in March 2026, and topped the charts in dozens of countries around the world.
American composers, whom Billboard characterizes as little-known, sought the expert opinion of musicologist Alexander Stewart when drawing up the lawsuit. He has previously been involved in unsuccessful complaints by other plaintiffs alleging plagiarism in songs by Ed Sheeran and Led Zeppelin.
Stewart stated that the demo and Swim's song he reviewed were similar in its “title refrain, unusual harmonies, textures, and rhythmic and lyrical elements.”
“In my expert opinion, independent creation of this song by BTS is ruled out and the conclusion that it was copied is inevitable,” Billboard quoted Stewart as saying.
According to the lawsuit, the demo tape, which has not yet been published online, may have ended up with one or more Swim writers after Cooper, Sandler and Johnson shared their work with the American company Artist Publishing Group.
Nine people are officially listed as the authors of the BTS song. Among them is a member of the group RM (Kim Namjoon), as well as a number of American composers, in particular Ryan Tedder, also known as the frontman of the group One Republic. All of them, along with the company HYBE, which publishes BTS's music, and its divisions became defendants in the lawsuit filed on July 8 in US federal court in California.
According to the Korea Herald, the HYBE division of Big Hit Music, with which BTS works directly, denied the accusations.
“Swim is an independent result of creativity. The allegations in the lawsuit are one-sided and unsubstantiated. We plan to give a firm response through appropriate legal means.” – BTS agency emphasized in a comment to the publication.
The plaintiffs demand that the court immediately suspend the defendants’ ability to make profits from Swim, and, following the process, compensation for damages and the possibility of receiving royalties from the composition. The court has not yet announced plans to consider the complaint, which may ultimately be rejected.
