Va. copyright suit against Bieber, Usher dismissed

Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a $10 million lawsuit that claimed Justin Bieber and Usher copied parts of a song written by two Virginia songwriters.

U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen ruled Friday that the song, "Somebody to Love," isn't intrinsically similar to a song by the same name that Bieber and Usher performed.

Devin Copeland and Maerio Overton filed the lawsuit in 2013 in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. The lawsuit claimed that the song performed by Bieber and Usher contains numerous lyrical and stylistic similarities to their copyrighted song.

The Virginian-Pilot (http://bit.ly/1fGOuis) reports that the judge listened to both songs at a hearing earlier this month.

Allen's ruling says a reasonable juror couldn't conclude that a member of the public would construe the songs' aesthetic appeal as being similar.

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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com