The Weeknd sued by British songwriters over 'A Lonely Night' plagiarism accusations

Songwriters claim the rights were acquired by Universal Music in 2008 before being relinquished in 2016

(Kevin Winter/Getty)

Canadian singer The Weeknd is being sued by three British songwriters who allege that he plagiarised their song "I Need to Love" for his track "A Lonely Night".

William Smith, Brian Clover and Scott McCulloh accuse The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, of copying their track, which they previously attempted to sell to a number of global artists back in 2004 and 2005.

According to court documents seen by The Blast, the rights to the song were eventually acquired by Universal Music in 2008, then relinquished in 2016.

The trio allege that The Weeknd released his song just weeks later – featured on his Grammy Award-winning third album Starboy – which was when they noticed similarities between the two. On the album credits, "A Lonely Night"'s writers are listed as Tesfaye, Max Martin, Peter Svensson, Savan Kotecha, Ali Payami, Ahmad Balshe (a Canadian rapper who goes by the stage name Belly) and Jason Quenneville. Tesfaye and Belly are the two named in the suit.

A side-by-side comparison of the tracks was posted on YouTube to support their case.

Smith, Clover and McCulloh are reportedly seeking unspecified unspecified damages, $150,000 for each copyright infringement, and forensic accounting to determine how much they are owed.

Clover and his Sonic Religion bandmates first accused The Weeknd of copying their song in November last year, when they told the BBC: "It is frustrating because it has always been our goal to have our names on an album by an artist."

The Independent has contacted The Weeknd's representatives for comment.