After asking Justin Bieber to stop using a sample of her song back in December, indie musician Casey Dienel (aka White Hinterland) decided to sue him when he ignored her.

Biebs’ song in question is the annoyingly catchy “Sorry”, produced by Skrillex and co-written by a whole team of writers.

Listen to Casey’s “Ring The Bell” below, and you might just have an inkling of what she is referring to:

Got it? It’s that “unique characteristics of the female vocal riff” that opens “Ring the Bell”, with a similar snippet repeated through “Sorry”. Here’s the ripoff track:

Unlike other musicians who get ripped off by the famous, Casey’s music has a large fan base. “Ring the Bell” has tens of thousands of plays on YouTube and SoundCloud and over half a million on Spotify, and its parent album Baby was widely reviewed upon its release two years ago.

Casey is now asking Bieber for both financial compensation and for him to completely remove the song. Here’s her Facebook post explaining her reason:

Creating original and unique music is my life’s passion, but it is challenging and time consuming. Throughout my career, I have worked very hard to preserve my independence and creative control, thus it came as a shock to hear my work used and exploited without permission… Justin Bieber is the world’s biggest artist, and I’m sure that he and his team will launch a full attach against me. But, in the end, I was left with no other option. I believe I have an obligation to stand up for my music and art.

Don’t think Justin Bieber will be saying sorry anytime soon.

[source: theverge]