Songwriters Want Bieber to Pay $10 Million for Dancing Around Depositions

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Songwriters are seeking $10 million from pop star Justin Bieber claiming he is abusing discovery in their copyright infringement suit against him.

The initial lawsuit arose in May 2013 when two songwriters sued Bieber over copyright of his hit single “Somebody to Love.” The songwriters claim they created the song in 2008, obtained a U.S. Copyright registration, and sent it to music industry scouts in 2009. It is alleged that the music scouts passed the single along to Usher, who is also named in the suit, because he proposed the song to Bieber and the two recorded it together.

In March 2014, a Virginia federal court dismissed the case in concluding that the songs were different. However, in June 2015, the case was revived by the Fourth Circuit in its ruling that the songs were “similar enough.”

The songwriters now allege they should be awarded summary judgment in the amount of $10 million as a sanction for Bieber’s “bad faith” actions during discovery. The songwriters allege that they were informed at 12:49 AM that Bieber would not be able to attend the deposition scheduled for that day. In their motion papers, the songwriters cite to gossip stories to show that despite yesterday’s cancellation, Bieber had time to shop at bookstores. In addition, the songwriters claim that Bieber cancelled another deposition at the end of March just hours before it was to take place to save his voice for a concert.

The songwriters also claim that Bieber has not cooperated with discovery requests through his “extremely limited and non-responsive” answers to interrogatories and other discovery documents.

The songwriters request an award of $10 million because “simple monetary sanctions” are not sufficient when Bieber makes $1.5 million per performance.

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