Justin Bieber

Why Justin Bieber, Dan + Shay Are Being Sued Over Song ‘10,000 Hours'

Justin Bieber and Dan + Shay are facing a copyright infringement lawsuit over their 2019 hit, "10,000 hours." In the complaint, a company accuses the three artists of stealing the "core portion"

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According to court documents obtained by E! News on April 22, Justin Bieber and Dan + Shay -- who teamed up for their 2019 hit, "10,000 hours" -- are being sued for copyright infringement over their Grammy-winning single.

In a complaint filed in a Los Angeles federal court, a company called Melomega is accusing the singers of copying the "core portion" of their song from a single released in 2014 called "The First Time Baby Is a Holiday."

"Defendants' theft is impudently bold," their compliant states. "One need only listen to 'First Time' and the infringing '10,000 Hours' to discern the unmistakable similarities between the songs." In the complaint, Melomega also presented a report from musicologist Dr. Alexander Stewart, who, according to the suit, analyzed the two singles and came to the "universal and ineluctable conclusion that Defendants stole Plaintiff's song."

"'10,000 Hours' is not just substantially similar to 'First Time,'" the complaint also read. "Defendants copied, in minute detail, the most important, core portion of plaintiff's song, which includes the chorus, verse and hook. The similarities are so striking that '10,000 Hours' simply cannot have been independently created."

According to the suit, songwriters Palmer Rakes and Frank Fioravanti (of which the latter formed the company Melomega) penned "First Time" and registered their musical composition for the song with the U.S. Copyright Office in 1980. Melomega released the sound recording for their single more than three decades later, in 2014.

After being released in 2019, "10,000 Hours" earned Bieber, Dan [Smyers] and Shay [Mooney] a few accolades including a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, two American Music Awards, a Billboard Music Award and an iHeartRadio Music Award. E! News has reached out to reps for Bieber, Smyers and Mooney for comment and has not heard back.

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