A new lawsuit claims the Dan + Shay hit “10,000 Hours,” featuring Justin Bieber, is a rip-off. A company called Melomega claims in a new lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court that the hit steals a “core portion” of their 1980 song called “The First Time Baby Is A Holiday," written by Palmer Rakes and Frank Fioravanti.
“Defendants’ theft is impudently bold,” wrote Tre Lovell, Melomega’s lawyer. “One need only listen to ‘First Time’ and the infringing ‘10,000 Hours’ to discern the unmistakable similarities between the songs.” In their filing they include corroboration of their claims by a musicologist named Dr. Alexander Stewart, with the lawyer noting, “The similarities are so striking that ‘10,000 Hours’ simply cannot have been independently created.”
So far Dan + Shay and Bieber have not commented on the suit.
Check out the songs below and decide for yourself.