Justin Bieber and Usher triumph in Somebody to Love lawsuit

Troubled Justin Bieber has one less legal woe to worry about after a $10 million plagiarism lawsuit over his 2010 hit Somebody To Love was thrown out of court.

Songwriters Devin 'De Rico' Copeland and Mareio Overton filed the copyright infringement accusations in a Virginia court last year (13), naming both the singer and his collaborator, mentor Usher, as defendants.

The plaintiffs claimed Bieber's single and its remix, which featured the Yeah! hitmaker, were strikingly similar to a tune they wrote and recorded for Copeland's album, My Story II, in 2008, and alleged that Usher had been exposed to the song through mutual acquaintances.

However, district judge Arenda Allen dismissed the claims with prejudice on Friday (28Mar14), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In her judgement, Allen wrote, "The songs cannot be reasonably construed as being substantially similar. Although the accused songs have some elements in common with Plaintiffs' song, their mood, tone, and subject matter differ significantly."

The news will come as a relief for 20-year-old Bieber, who is already dealing with a DUI charge in Miami, Florida relating to a January (14) arrest. He is also at the center of a vandalism investigation by police in Los Angeles over an alleged egging attack on his neighbour's home, and he's facing an assault accusation in Toronto, Canada, along with two civil suits from paparazzi photographers in California and Florida amid further allegations of assault.