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Justin Bieber, Skrillex Sued Over 'Sorry' Hook

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M

mellz

Member
Casey Dienel, an indie artist who records under the moniker White Hinterland, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Justin Bieber, alleging that the singer's hit "Sorry" borrows heavily from her 2014 track "Ring the Bell."

"As many of you that follow my career and work have already recognized, Justin Bieber's song 'Sorry' copies the vocal riff prominently featured in my song 'Ring the Bell,'" Dienel wrote on Facebook. "The writers, producers and performers of 'Sorry' did not obtain a license for this exploitation of my work, nor did they obtain or seek my permission. Yesterday afternoon, I filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement against Justin Bieber and the other responsible parties."

The lawsuit, which names Bieber as well as producer Skrillex, focuses on the opening vocal melody of both tracks. "Like most artists that sample music, Bieber could have licensed my song for use in 'Sorry.' But he chose not to contact me," Dienel continued. "After the release of 'Sorry,' my lawyers sent Bieber a letter regarding the infringement, but Bieber’s team again chose to ignore me." Dienel added that she was left with "no other option" but to file a lawsuit in order to "stand up for my music and art."

The suit lists the similarities between "Sorry" and "Ring the Bell." According to TMZ, the lawsuit accuses "Sorry" of stealing eight seconds of "Ring the Bell" and looping it six times, and notes that both songs are constructed around keyboard synthesizers, samples, synth bass, drums and percussion. "The identical and/or striking similarity of 'Sorry' to Plaintiff's song 'Ring the Bell' surpasses the realm of generic coincidence and independent creation," the lawsuit states.

Bieber and Skrillex have not responded publicly to White Hinterland's lawsuit. It's unclear how much Dienel is seeking in the suit.

"Creating original and unique music is my life's passion, but it is challenging and time-consuming," Dienel wrote. "I poured my blood, sweat and tears into writing and producing 'Ring the Bell,' and I am proud of the finished product, which Rolling Stone listed as one of its 'favorite songs, albums, and videos.' Throughout my career, I have worked very hard to preserve my independence and creative control, thus it came as a shock to hear my work used and exploited without permission."
Click to expand...

Source

She will surely win this lawsuit? Judge yourself:

"Ring The Bell"
"Sorry"
 
D

darscot

Member
There is only so many possible combinations of notes, I thought the sound in Bieber's song is actually his voice synthesized. Yes they sound the same but someone is just trying to get paid on this one.
 
U

umop_3pisdn

Member
They sound really similar and that hook is probably the most distinct or memorable part of the song, so it seems like they at least have a case.
 
F

Foxix Von

Member
It's like... Five notes? It really sounds more like it's just a small sample the the song is built around. I'm not sure if the amount of content being sampled here is enough to really constitute copyright infringement.

Doing my damnedest not to speak on the quality of the song. Which is HAAAAAARD.
 
J

jet1911

Member
Just to be sure, is it only the "houhouhouhouhou" that is supposed to be copied? Because to me everything else sound pretty different.
 
R

Rootbeer

Banned
Yesterday when this story was still breaking, I checked out the Ring the Bell video and the ratings were about 95% thumbs up

Now it's nearly the exact opposite, haha

Also... all the comments made in the last day or two telling her she's ugly and can't sing... JB fans, so shallow.
 
T

torre_avenue

Banned
I played the original song for my sister and I asked her which song I was playing and she instantaneously responded with "Sorry."

Seems like she has a case.

EDIT: Justin Beiber fans doing what they'll do and start shitting up a video because their pop icon is getting rightfully sued. I don't even understand why the guy still had fans considering how shittily he treats them. His concerts are sloppy, his meet and greets consist of him making the same face in every picture, he bans his fans from taking pictures with him, etc.
 
N

Nere

Member
They sound a bit alike to me but not the same. Both songs are so bad though, in Beiber's song his voice sounds so fake.
 
S

see5harp

Member
I think it's quite possible they heard the White Hinterland song and wanted to use something like that. That's really where it ends though. It's not a "sample" so for her to get any money at all it would have to be a writing credit. I like her but she didn't spend hours and hours of time coming up with that 2 note melody. Hell, Scrillex added a little extra flourish at the end to make it more hooky.
 
I

Izuna

Banned
Man F this, leave Biebs alone. I don't mean to write someone that is echoed in YouTube comments, but what a terrible song.

EDIT: the best music video I have seen since Elektrobank
 
N

Nev

Banned
The sample in the beginning was clearly ripped and used in Sorry and because they used it a lot in the Bieber song, I think she deserves to win. Skrillex did a much better job with it though since this artist's song is barely sufferable from the first listen and Sorry provides some good pop for at least a month before it becomes detestable.
 
A

aku:jiki

Member
Lawd have mercy does that Ring the Bell song suck... What an obnoxious cacophony of terrible sounds. I guess I'm a Bieber supporter for the first time in my life.
 
DOWN

DOWN

Banned
I'm getting Skrillex ads now so joke is on her for making this news

It seems the same to me though
 
B

blakep267

Member
see5harp said:
I think it's quite possible they heard the White Hinterland song and wanted to use something like that. That's really where it ends though. It's not a "sample" so for her to get any money at all it would have to be a writing credit. I like her but she didn't spend hours and hours of time coming up with that 2 note melody. Hell, Scrillex added a little extra flourish at the end to make it more hooky.
Click to expand...
It's not a sample in the sense that Skrillex changed it up/ remade it but I could believe that he took it as a basis and expanded upon it
 
D

daemonic

Banned
jet1911 said:
Just to be sure, is it only the "houhouhouhouhou" that is supposed to be copied? Because to me everything else sound pretty different.
Click to expand...

Well that's the hook right there. It does sound incredibly similar to Sorry. There's no denying it. If I had heard this song on its own outside of this thread, I would have thought it was a blatant rip off.

That said, YouTube comments continue to be the worst thing in existence.
 
A

AlexMeloche

Member
Foxix Von said:
It's like... Five notes? It really sounds more like it's just a small sample the the song is built around. I'm not sure if the amount of content being sampled here is enough to really constitute copyright infringement.
Click to expand...

Doesn't artists have to pay for samples?

Cobalt Izuna said:
Man F this, leave Biebs alone. I don't mean to write someone that is echoed in YouTube comments, but what a terrible song.
Click to expand...

The quality of the song doesn't change shit. If they did copy parts of the song, they need to pay.
 
S

Salmonax

Member
Seems pretty clearly identical - it's even in the same key. It almost sounds like a sample. I imagine the Bieber camp will settle.
 
Ray Wonder

Ray Wonder

Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
The melodies in that song are so uninspired, and lack any sort of memorability to them. If you had the lyrics written down while in the booth, you could riff those melodies off the top of your head.

The single "Is it too late to say sorry, naaow" line is a cool ass vocal riff that highlights how much better the writers for Biebs song was compared to this Ring the bell bullshit.

The "Houououououu!" had to be sampled. It's too close to not be. Other than that, i don't see a striking resemblance.
 
R

Retne

Member
Definitely sounds like at the very least they sampled from the track and didn't clear the sample. They owe her some money. I wish it wasn't the case but that's the way law is written so you have to clear your samples or not profit off of your "transformative" release.
 
K

kitchenmotors

Banned
I don't think this case is clear cut, imo. Doesn't sound like it was sampled, just expanded upon.

And curious why Blood (Formally Blood Diamonds) isn't mentioned in the suit. He co-produced this song as well. I know people here like to shit on Justin and Skrillex, but Blood is a decent guy and a really good producer. I don't think this sorta thing would have been up his alley, in terms of just outright stealing.
 
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