Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are facing a lawsuit from two songwriters who allege they lifted their current single, “The Rest of Our Life,” from a song that scored a hit in Australia in 2016.
Songwriters Sean Carey and Beau Golden filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on Wednesday (Jan. 10), alleging “The Rest of Our Life” is “blatant copying” of their 2014 song, “When I Found You,” which was a hit when Jasmine Rae released it via ABC Records, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“The copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying of original elements of the Song, and is obvious to the ordinary observer,” the filing alleges.
“The Rest of Our Life” songwriters Ed Sheeran, Amy Wadge, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac are also named in the suit, as well as Sony / ATV, Universal Polygram, WB Music and more. Carey and Golden allege that Sony employees were fully aware of the infringement and may have even facilitated it.
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“It very well may have been an agent of Sony Music Entertainment who provided the other defendants herein with access to the Song,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit claims that Jasmine Rae, Golden and Carey were writing together in December when they listened to “The Rest of Our Life” after Rae mentioned a fan’s tweet about the song. They decided immediately to file suit over the song, and Rae tried to get her boyfriend, Tim Holland, involved. He’s a marketing manager for Sony, and the filing alleges that when they approached him about the potential lawsuit, “Mr. Holland admitted to knowing about the Infringing Song months in advance of its release because he was tasked with promoting and marketing the Infringing Song and Infringing Sound Recording before its release.”
“When questioned by Plaintiffs as to his silence about the similarities between ‘When I Found You’ and the Infringing Song/Infringing Sound Recording, Mr. Holland stated he did not want to lose his job with Sony Music,” the lawsuit further claims. “When pressed further by Plaintiffs, Mr. Holland indicated that he had known that the songs were substantially similar for more than two months prior to the October 5, 2017, release date of the Infringing Song/Infringing Sound Recording.”
Carey and Golden allege that Holland shared the song with the defendants “in an effort to gain exposure for Ms. Rae and promote her work,” and alternately suggest that Sheeran heard the song while touring Australia. The songwriters are represented by Richard Busch, who represented Marvin Gaye’s family in a groundbreaking lawsuit over Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and previously took part in a lawsuit against Sheeran for copyright infringement over his song “Photograph.” The lawsuit asks for an injunction, at least $5 million in damages, royalties and attorney fees.
“The Rest of Our Life” is the title song of McGraw and Hill’s first-ever duets album. It was released to country radio as the second single from the project in October of 2017.
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