By Larry Neumeister
NEW YORK (AP) --A songwriting team sued country singer Carrie Underwood, the NFL and NBC Wednesday, saying they stole a song and "slightly modified" it to introduce "Sunday Night Football" to viewers last season.
The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court noted that Underwood's "Game On" even carried the same title as the song singer Heidi Merrill of Newport Beach, California, put on an internet music video two years ago.
The lawsuit sought unspecified damages, saying the copyright was violated on the song that had been pitched to Underwood's representatives in 2017.
The NFL and NBCUniversal Media LLC declined comment. Carrie Underwood's representatives did not immediately comment.
The plaintiffs are a songwriting team consisting of four individuals, including Merrill, from California, Tennessee and Sweden.
The lawsuit said Merrill assembled the group to create the song in 2016 as a follow to her Nebraska-themed football anthem "Cornhusker Strong."
It said they marketed the song, aiming to get it licensed for use in television broadcasts of sporting events.
Merrill pitched the song to Underwood's producer in August 2017 during a conference in Nashville, Tennessee, where Underwood lives, the lawsuit said.
It said the producer referred Merrill to his assistant, who told her in an email in October 2017: "I'm sorry, we're going to have to pass."
The lawsuit claimed that the song that introduced 17 NFL Sunday night games through the season beginning in September 2018 "is substantially — even strikingly — similar, if not identical," to the song Underwood's team had rejected.
Japan Celebrates Record 18 Emmy Wins For “Shogun”
Japan erupted with joy Monday as the samurai series "Shogun" won a record 18 Emmys for its first season.
It took home prizes including Outstanding Drama Series, as star and co-producer Hiroyuki Sanada became the first Japanese actor to win the Emmy for best lead actor in a dramatic series. Co-star Anna Sawai won best actress in a dramatic series, also a first for Japan.
"You did it. You did it. Congratulations," Takashi Yamazaki, director of " Godzilla Minus One," wrote on social media.
People followed the awards live as the wins made national headlines. Entertainment media Oricon proudly reported that a work whose spoken lines were mostly in the Japanese language "made Emmy history."
"The grand scale of Hollywood combined with the high quality of the production, including costuming, props and mannerisms; the collaboration between the Japanese professional team, headed by producer Sanada, and the local production team; as well as the acting that delivered a strong sense of reality, all came together," the report said.
Actor Kento Kaku, who starred in the 2024 series "Like a Dragon: Yakuza," said he was feeling inspired to pursue Hollywood dreams.
"After seeing how cool that was, who's not going to want to take up the challenge," he wrote on X.
Actress Tomoko Mariya said she broke into tears the moment Sanada's win was announced.
"What hardships you must have endured, choosing to leave your entire career behind in Japan and going to America alone. But it has borne fruit," she wrote, referring to Sanada's move to Los Angeles 20 years ago.
The accolades for "Shogun" reflect not only the growing diversity in American entertainment, but also the legacy of Japan's "jidaigeki" samurai films, which have... Read More