Three Los Angeles songwriters — Steve Cooper, Jon Sandler and Greylyn Johnson — have filed a copyright lawsuit against HYBE and the credited writers of BTS's single 'SWIM', alleging the track copied a demo they created in early 2025. Filed on 8 July in the US District Court for the Central District of California, the complaint claims 'SWIM', the lead single from BTS's album Arirang, reproduces a composition of the same name that the plaintiffs registered with the US Copyright Office. The case matters because it is the third US copyright complaint brought against HYBE in two months, adding to mounting legal scrutiny of the K-pop giant's songwriting practices.

The plaintiffs say they completed their demo in March 2025 and circulated it to industry contacts, including the publishing company APG, whose representatives allegedly shared it with Derrick Milano — a credited co-writer of BTS's 'SWIM' — with a Disco.ac listening report offered as evidence. A musicologist engaged by the plaintiffs, Alexander Stewart, concluded in a preliminary report that independent creation could be "ruled out" and that the similarities in hook, harmonies, textures and lyrics were "unequivocally taken" from their song. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction, damages and a share of profits, or alternatively co-writing credit on "nearly all" of the track; other named writer-defendants include Ryan Tedder and Sean Foreman, though BTS's RM and producer Pdogg, also credited, are not named. 'SWIM' debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Arirang topped the Billboard 200, and the allegations have yet to be tested in court.