'Backwoods' Earns Country Artist Justin Moore A Backend Lawsuit

Who hasn’t heard Justin Moore’s hit single, “Backwoods?" He released the song back in 2009 and it landed him the number six spot on Billboard. Besides receiving high marks, the song was also downloaded over 300,000 times according to The Tennessean.

But now, three years after the fact, two country singers slapped Moore and his record company Big Machine Label Group with a copyright infringement. According to the suit, Tennessee songwriter Bobby Carmichael and Louisiana fiddler Britton Curry say “Backwoods” sounds just like their song they wrote back in 2003, claiming it nearly mimics their lyrics, pitch and rhythm.

Here is the music video for the controversial tune:

Carmichael first learned about this song in February. He just happened to turn on the radio and heard what sounded like his music. Not only that, The Tennessean found more pieces to this country puzzle.

In 2005, Carmichael and Curry’s song was shopped around by several major labels in Nashville, but no one seemed interested. Jamie Paulin, a publisher at Island Bound at the time, “heard and/or secured” a copy of the song, and coincidentally, this publisher teamed up with Moore and songwriter-producer Jeremy Stover in 2008 to write “Backwoods.”

This country song battle will resume at the pre-trial discussion on Monday, October 1, 2012 in Nashville. Carmichael and Curry are seeking $150,000 each for the alleged copyright infringement.

-Ashley Quadros, CBS Local