Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Songwriters Sue NewJeans and HYBE, Claim 2024 Hit “How Sweet” Copied Their Demo
Four songwriters sued NewJeans, ADOR and HYBE alleging the 2024 single "How Sweet" copied their demo "One of a Kind" and seeks royalties.
Four songwriters filed suit on May 7, alleging NewJeans’ 2024 single “How Sweet” borrows key melodic material from their demo “One of a Kind.” The complaint, first obtained by Billboard, names ADOR, HYBE and the five performers — Minji, Hanni, Haerin, Hyein and Danielle — and is asking for a share of the song’s royalties.
NewJeans released “How Sweet” in May 2024 as the title track from an EP; the song climbed to No. 15 on the Billboard Global 200 and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. The four plaintiffs — Audrey Armacost, Aidan Rodriguez, Adam Gokcebay and Michael Campanelli — contend that their demo, “One of a Kind,” was submitted during the songwriting process earlier that year and later mirrored by the released track.
From a publisher email to a lawsuit
The suit lays out a simple chronology: in January 2024 Armacost received an instrumental from her publisher and, together with Rodriguez, Gokcebay and Campanelli, wrote and recorded topline lyrics and melody for “One of a Kind.” They say the demo was sent along for consideration but ultimately rejected. Four months later, the plaintiffs say, “How Sweet” hit the market.
In legal language the complaint gets specific about the alleged copying: “Both works are in 4/4 meter and the key of B flat minor,” it reads. “And both works contain a topline that includes an approximately eight-bar, 31-note melodic sequence consisting of four series.” The writers are asking the court to recognize their co-ownership and to award them a pro rata share of the profits from the song’s commercial success.
“Adam, Aidan, Audrey and Michael are accomplished songwriters who were deeply disappointed to discover this blatant copying of their original song, ‘One of a Kind,’ in New Jeans’ ‘How Sweet,’” attorney Trevor Barrett said in a statement to Billboard. “They look forward to having their rights acknowledged and vindicated via this lawsuit.”
HYBE and ADOR have not issued a public response to the claims, and a representative did not immediately return requests for comment.
Context: a group in the middle of its own legal storm
The new suit lands against the backdrop of NewJeans’ very public conflict with ADOR. In 2024 the five original members attempted to leave the HYBE subsidiary and rebrand under the name NJZ after the firing of former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin. That dispute went to court; a South Korean judge ruled in October that the members remain under exclusive contract until 2029.
After the ruling, Hanni, Haerin and Hyein returned to ADOR. Danielle will not continue with NewJeans — ADOR announced in December that she had been dropped from the group and suggested a family member bore “significant responsibility for causing this dispute.” Minji’s status remains unsettled; negotiations toward a return are reportedly moving in a “positive direction,” according to The Korea Herald.
The suit raises familiar questions about how songs get made in the modern pop machine: who contributes what, how ideas are circulated, and who gets credited when a cut becomes a hit. For now, the writers have put the matter before a U.S. court and are seeking financial recognition for a demo they say was taken without a license.
Whether this will settle quietly or escalate into a detailed examination of NewJeans’ writing sessions remains to be seen, but the filing ensures the debate over authorship and credit will be part of the story behind one of K-pop’s breakout acts in 2024.
