3 Count: Treading Water

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1: BTS Label Big Hit Music Rejects ‘Swim’ Copyright Claim, Says Track Was Independently Created

First off today, Murray Stassen at Music Business Worldwide reports that Big Hit Music has denied that the new BTS song Swim is a copyright infringement, saying that the track was independently created.

Three US songwriters filed a lawsuit against Big Hit Music and others connected with BTS, alleging that Swim, which is from their newest album Arirang, is similar to a demo that they produced in early 2025. They claim that BTS worked on the album in Los Angeles around that same time, and they claim that representatives for the band played the demo on the digital platform Disco.ac.

To be clear, BTS itself is not a defendant in this case. The plaintiffs say that they approached Big Hit Music and other defendants before filing the lawsuit, but were rebuffed. They are seeking both an injunction and damages in the case. 

2: AI Companies Want to Water Down Australia’s Copyright Laws. Artists Are Outraged, Labor Is Split

Next up today, Dan Jervis-Bardy and Josh Butler at The Guardian AU report that Australian creatives are expressing concerns that upcoming changes to copyright laws could be watered down to the benefit of AI companies.

Recently, the government promised that it would not create an exemption for AI training under Australia’s copyright laws. However, tech companies have engaged in a strong lobbying campaign, and now the leading Labor party appears to be split on the issue.

The move follows leaked documents indicating that the government may be considering a copyright carve-out for AI training in exchange for billions in investment. This follows meetings between Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and several tech executives, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

3: Frequent Copyright Litigant Files Suit Against Indiana-Based Weather Information Service

Finally today, Cameron Shaw at The Indiana Lawyer reports that Global Weather Productions LLC has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in Indiana, accusing America’s Weather Streaming Channel LLC of infringing on one of their videos on social media platforms. 

Global Weather Productions is owned by videographer Brandon Clement. He claims that Weather Streaming Channel uploaded a video taken by his company without permission to their social media accounts.

According to the complaint, Global Weather Productions notified the defendants of the alleged copyright infringement in February 2026, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement.

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