BTS ‘Swim’ Copyright Lawsuit Dropped by Accusers Just Months After They Sued Over Hit Song

The case claimed the song, which reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, was “copied in very large part” from an unpublished demo. j-hope, Jung Kook, SUGA, V and RM of BTS perform onstage at T-Mobile Arena on September 18, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jason Kempin/Getty Images A lawsuit claiming that BTS’ chart-topping smash “Swim” ripped off an earlier song has now been dropped by the accusers. The case, filed in July against BTS label HYBE, alleged that the hit song — which debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 this spring as the lead track off ARIRANG — had many “substantial similarities” to an unpublished demo of the same name by three little-known songwriters. Related But less than four months later, attorneys for those three accusers (Steve Cooper, Jon Sandler and Greylyn Johnson) asked the judge in a Wednesday (Nov. 4) court filing to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety. It was unclear from court documents if any kind of settlement had been reached, and neither side immediately returned requests for comment. The case remained in its earliest stages, with HYBE’s attorneys not yet having even formally responded to it. In their July complaint, the three accusers
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