Two separate copyright lawsuits in the United States over BTS’s hit song “Swim” have now come to an end, closing a legal chapter that opened in the summer of 2026. One case was withdrawn by the people who filed it, while the other was dismissed by a federal judge.
The more recent development came in California. On November 4, attorneys for songwriters Steve Cooper, Jon Sandler and Greylyn Johnson filed to dismiss their lawsuit in its entirety, according to reports from Billboard cited by multiple outlets. The filing was recorded by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, ending a case that had been filed on July 8, less than four months earlier.
The three songwriters had claimed that “Swim” copied elements of an unpublished demo of the same name that they completed in March 2025. They argued that the demo had circulated among music industry figures and could have reached the team behind the BTS track, and they pointed to a musicological analysis as support for similarities between the two songs. They sought damages, an injunction against use of the song, and recognition as co-creators with a share of copyright proceeds.
Big Hit Music, BTS’s label, rejected the claim. The company has maintained that “Swim” was independently created, and the case never reached a ruling on whether infringement occurred. The withdrawal itself was staged: the plaintiffs first dropped their claims against Big Hit Music on September 28, while keeping claims against HYBE and members of the songwriting team alive, before withdrawing the remainder of the case on November 4. Court documents reviewed in reporting did not make clear whether any settlement was reached, and neither side immediately commented publicly on the withdrawal.
Notably, BTS’s members were not named as defendants in the California case. Instead, it targeted HYBE, HYBE America, Big Hit Music and several songwriters involved in creating the track, including Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. Because HYBE’s attorneys had not yet formally responded to the allegations, the case was still in its early stages when it was withdrawn, leaving the central copyright question unanswered by a court.
The second case ended with a judge’s decision rather than a withdrawal. In the Eastern District of Virginia, the court dismissed an amended complaint filed by Melissa Mays on October 22 and entered judgment for the defendants, which included BTS, HYBE, HYBE America and Big Hit Music. Mays had filed her original complaint in August, challenging six tracks from BTS’s album “ARIRANG,” and her first complaint was dismissed in September before she was allowed to file an amended version. The court found that the amended filing still failed to support the claims, describing them as frivolous, and noted that the recording Mays presented as key evidence could not be verified. She was given 30 days to appeal.
The two outcomes arrive at a high point for the song at the center of both disputes. “Swim” was released in March 2026 as the lead single from BTS’s comeback album “ARIRANG,” and reporting on the California case notes that it debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100. With both U.S. cases now closed, the legal cloud over the track has lifted, even though only one of the two disputes was resolved on its merits. No official statement from HYBE or Big Hit Music about the California withdrawal was available at the time of reporting.
