EDM wunderkind Skrillex and teenie-bopper-turned-selfie-salesman Justin Bieber have a short history of working together on projects, teaming up last year for a couple of well-received singles, and Bieber’s fourth studio album, Purpose. Now, they’re revving up for another collaboration, this time putting their musical minds together to get totally sued by someone accusing them of ripping a sample off for one of their songs.
The accusations come courtesy of Casey Dienel, a.k.a. White Hinterland, who claims that Bieber and Skrillex’s song “Sorry” ripped off the “unique characteristics of the female vocal riff” on her song “Ring The Bell.” (Which, incidentally, made our AVQA list of the best songs of the first half of 2014.) She’s now suing both artists for copyright infringement, and has also posted a Facebook message detailing her reasoning for the suit, and the steps she’s taken in the past to try to avoid bringing the issue to court.
Listening to both songs, the opening riffs do sound pretty similar, so it’s possible that the duo did, in fact, team up to pull a musical heist, like a perpetually baby-faced George Clooney and a gothic-looking, dubstep-loving Matt Damon. This isn’t the first time Bieber has faced a copyright lawsuit for his music, either. He (and his mentor, Usher) were sued last year by R&B singer De Rico, over similarities between their version of “Somebody To Love,” and De Rico’s own song by the same name.