Somebody is suing over 'How Sweet' — and no, this is not the MHJ situation. Monday morning and we already get another legal cloud over the group. I really cannot believe this is where we are. This is NewJeans Daily — today we're breaking down the new plagiarism lawsuit against NewJeans and ADOR over 'How Sweet,' what they're actually claiming, and what that means legally. And I want to stay with the members for a second, because while all of this piles up, that part keeps getting pushed to the side. allkpop writes:
According to Billboard on May 8 EST, four songwriters have filed a lawsuit with the U.S. court against NewJeans and ADOR for suspicions of plagiarism in the 2024 track "How Sweet".
The four songwriters (identified as Audrey Armacost, Aidan Rodriguez, Adam Gokcebay, and Michael Campanelli) claimed that they received "an instrumental track by publisher in January 2024 and invited to submit top line lyrics and melody for consideration by NewJeans," wrote Billboard.
Four songwriters have filed a U.S. federal lawsuit against NewJeans and ADOR, saying the first verse of 'How Sweet' lifts significantly from a top line and melody they submitted during an open writing session in early 2024. They're asking for songwriting credit and a royalty share — so this is a copyright infringement claim, not a fan theory. And the timeline is rough on its face — they say they sent in a track called 'One of a Kind' through their publisher, got a 'no thanks,' and then heard that melody turn up on one of the biggest NewJeans singles of the year. That is not nothing. Just to be clear, a lawsuit getting filed is the start of a legal process, not a verdict. Courts still have to look at the actual comparative analysis — melody, rhythm, structure. 'Considerable similarities' is the plaintiffs' characterization, not a finding. Right, but the members are already in a brutal spot — three back with ADOR, Danielle's contract terminated, the whole OT5 situation still raw — and now the music itself is in litigation. The timing is awful for anyone who just wants a clean path forward. Got a NewJeans story idea, feedback on the show, or a correction we should know about? Email us anytime at newjeansdailyfancast at lantern podcasts dot com. We'd love to hear from you.
You'll find links to every story we covered today in the show notes, so if something caught your ear, you can dig into the original reporting there.
That's NewJeans Daily Podcast for this Monday, May 11th. Thanks for listening. This is a Lantern Podcast.