NewJeans ‘How Sweet’ Plagiarism Lawsuit: Key Demo Track Was Directly Submitted to Ador
K-pop group NewJeans is embroiled in a new plagiarism dispute concerning their 2024 single, “How Sweet.”
As reported by Billboard on Friday, NewJeans, their agency Ador, and parent company Hybe are being sued in the U.S. for alleged copyright infringement.
Four songwriters, led by Audrey Armacost, have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit, asserting that NewJeans’ “How Sweet” copied elements from their unreleased demo track, “One of a Kind.” The plaintiffs are seeking substantial royalty compensation from both the popular K-pop group and Ador.
According to the complaint, Armacost received an instrumental track through a publisher in January 2024. She was tasked with developing topline melodies and lyrics as a candidate song for NewJeans. She and three other writers subsequently composed and recorded “One of a Kind” over the instrumental, but the song was ultimately rejected during the selection process.
The legal filing specifically alleges that “How Sweet,” released just four months after the demo’s rejection notice, features a first verse substantially similar to “One of a Kind” in both quantitative and qualitative aspects.
Further supporting their claim, the lawsuit includes a detailed technical analysis, contending that both tracks share an identical topline melody sequence of 31 notes spanning approximately eight measures, alongside a matching 4/4 time signature and the key of B-flat minor.
Ador, NewJeans’ agency, has vehemently denied these copyright infringement allegations.
“After confirming with Bana, the entity responsible for the song’s songwriting and production, we were informed that no plagiarism was involved,” the agency stated on Saturday. “Ador and the NewJeans members also plan to actively respond to the lawsuit in alignment with Bana’s steadfast position.”
This marks the second plagiarism controversy for the K-pop group NewJeans in recent years. Previously in 2024, the British jazz-funk band Shakatak alleged that NewJeans’ track “Bubble Gum” copied their 1981 song “Easier Said Than Done,” pointing to similarities in rhythm, melody, and tempo.
Ador denied the accusation at the time and requested an independent analytical report from the band. No further legal action or additional evidence has been publicly disclosed regarding that past dispute.
Interestingly, both “Bubble Gum” and “How Sweet” were produced by 250, a producer affiliated with Bana.
Crucially, unlike the earlier Shakatak dispute, this current copyright infringement case centers on a demo track that was directly submitted to Ador during the song production process. This implies that Ador and the affiliated producers had documented access to the very material now at the heart of this significant K-pop lawsuit.
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