One Direction’s 2015 tune “Drag Me Down” is a ripoff, according to a lawsuit filed by a songwriter who claims that the song “prominently features significant portions” of his own composition.
In the lawsuit filed in federal court in California on Thursday, Amir Shaheed-Edwards, who performs under the professional name Bravo, says that “Drag Me Down” infringes on his song “All My Life.”
“Recognizing Plaintiffs’ popularity, talent and goodwill, and in a brazen and improper effort to capitalize on Plaintiffs’ hard-earned success, Defendants have created and publicized … a song for ‘One Direction’ titled ‘Drag Me Down’ which prominently features significant portions of Plaintiffs’ musical composition ‘All My Life’ without authorization from Plaintiffs,” the lawsuit, filed against Syco Entertainment, the entertainment company behind One Direction, reads.
The alleged infringement has caused “enormous and irreparable harm” to Bravo, the suit claims.
According to the suit, Bravo filed a “quick copyright registration” for “All My Life” in 2013, and released it as a single on the streaming service SoundCloud in 2015, the same year that “Drag Me Down” was released.
“Defendants do not have any license, authorization, permission or consent to use the Infringed Composition,” it continues.
The lawsuit doesn’t elaborate on the “significant portions” of “All My Life” that are allegedly used on “Drag Me Down.”
The suit claims that Bravo gave written notice to Syco that “Drag Me Down” constitutes infringement in December 2016 and August 2017.
TheWrap has reached out to Syco for comment on the lawsuit.
Alleging copyright infringement, the suit is asking for an injunction preventing infringement in the future, as well as unspecified damages.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.