Carrie Underwood ‘Saddened’ By Lawsuit Against ‘Something In The Water’

“Neither Carrie nor any of her co-writers ever received or heard the plaintiffs’ song," Underwood's team shared in a statement. 

Written by Lauren Laffer
Carrie Underwood ‘Saddened’ By Lawsuit Against ‘Something In The Water’
Carrie Underwood; Photo courtesy Country Music Association

After news broke of a copyright infringement lawsuit against Carrie Underwood and her co-writers of the hit single “Something in the Water,” the superstar’s team released a statement, speaking out against the plaintiffs in the case.

“We are aware that a lawsuit was filed regarding the authorship of ‘Something in the Water,'” a representative from Underwood’s team said in a statement (quote via The Tennessean). “We want all of Carrie’s fans, and everyone, to know that ‘Something in the Water’ was written by Brett James, Chris DeStefano and Carrie Underwood. This is a deeply personal song regarding Carrie’s faith and she is saddened that anyone would attempt to challenge that for financial gain.”

The statement continued, “Neither Carrie nor any of her co-writers ever received or heard the plaintiffs’ song. We fully expect that Carrie, Brett and Chris will be vindicated in the courts.”

The song in question was released in 2014, two years after Canadian songwiters Ronald McNeill and Georgia Lyons-Savage allege they wrote a song with the same lyrical content. McNeill and Lyons-Savage allege that they pitched the song to Underwood’s team, who declined to use the song.

“The hook on the infringing work, as released on the album, is structurally and lyrically identical, and substantially similar melodically to plaintiffs’ composition of the same title,” the two argue in their case.

Carrie Underwood, songwriters Brett James and Chris Destefano, producer Mark Bright, their publishing companies and Sony Music Nashville were named as defendants in the case. McNeill and Lyons-Savage are asking for a jury trial and any profits the song has generated.

The Oklahoma native previously faced copyright infringement issues when a songwriter claimed “Remind Me,” her duet with Brad Paisley, was a rip-off of a song she’d written. The case was ruled in favor of Paisley and Underwood as the judge decided that their version is more conversational because of the back and forth nature of the duet.