BTS win US court battle as judge dismisses copyright claim, SWIM lawsuit continues
US judge dismisses copyright claim against BTS, SWIM lawsuit still ongoing
A Virginia federal judge has thrown out a copyright claim against BTS, but the stars aren’t done with US courtrooms yet. A separate suit over their song SWIM is still moving forward in California.
The case that collapsed
On October 22, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the amended complaint brought by Melissa Mays against BTS, their label Big Hit Music, parent company HYBE and HYBE America, according to South Korean outlet Star News.
Mays filed suit on August 25, alleging the group had used her unreleased songs without permission. The case ran into trouble within weeks. In September, Judge Leonie Brinkema found that the original complaint failed to set out valid legal grounds and gave Mays until October 9 to fix it.
Mays filed a revised complaint a day before the deadline, on October 8. It didn’t resolve the problems the court had flagged. She offered no specific evidence that BTS had taken anything from her work, and the judge ruled for the defendants, ending the case.
The fight over SWIM
The California case may prove harder to dismiss. On July 8, composers Steve Cooper, John Sandler and Graylin Johnson sued in the Central District of California, claiming BTS’s SWIM borrows from a demo of the same name that they completed in March 2025.
Unlike Mays, the trio have reportedly backed their claim with a musicologist’s analysis. It points to overlaps in melody, chorus, harmony, rhythm and lyrics. The composers want damages and a share of the song’s profits.
Big Hit Music rejects the allegation. The label called it a one-sided claim and said SWIM was written independently.
Bad timing for a big year
The legal noise arrives during one of the busiest stretches in BTS’s career. The seven members, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, came back as a full group on March 20, 2026, with Arirang. The 14-track album is their fifth studio record and their first together in three years and nine months. SWIM appears on it.
Their 2026-27 world tour opened in Goyang, South Korea, on April 9. It spans 85 shows in 34 regions across Asia, the Americas, Europe and Australia, and its final leg runs through March 2027.
BTS, short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, debuted in June 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment, now part of HYBE. They grew from a domestic K-pop act into one of the world’s biggest music groups and brought Korean pop to a global audience.
