By duyen be 
“Scroll to the bottom of the article to watch the video.”
Introduction
In the relentless churn of the 24-hour news cycle, old stories often find new, sensationalized life. Such is the case with a recently resurfaced video titled “SHOCKING: Jamal Robert Comes for Carrie Underwood with LAWSUIT Threat!” The clip, framed with urgent, dramatic language, thrusts a long-settled legal battle back into the spotlight, preying on the shock value of a superstar’s name tied to a lawsuit.
But for those close to Carrie Underwood’s camp, the video isn’t just clickbait—it’s a painful reminder of a legal fight that questioned not just the originality of a song, but the very essence of her artistic and spiritual integrity.
The song at the heart of the controversy is “Something in the Water,” Underwood’s Grammy-winning 2014 anthem of faith and redemption. A titan of a track, it resonated deeply with audiences for its powerful depiction of baptism and spiritual rebirth. However, in 2017, songwriters Ron McNeill and Georgia Lyons, along with a collaborator named Jamal Robert, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit. They alleged that Underwood and her co-writers, Chris DeStefano and Brett James, had plagiarized their 2012 song, which was also titled “Something in the Water.”
The legal battle has long since concluded, with a federal judge and a subsequent appeals court ruling decisively in Underwood’s favor. But the emotional toll of such an accusation, according to sources, was significant.
“It was deeply frustrating,” reveals a source who was part of Underwood’s creative team during that period and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. “Carrie pours her entire soul into her music, especially a song as personal as this one. To have your spiritual and creative integrity questioned over a theme as universal as redemption through water… it felt like a targeted blow. The idea that she would need to steal that concept is simply preposterous to anyone who knows her or her faith.”
The source continued, their voice tinged with lingering exasperation, “We knew from day one that the claim had no merit. The melodies, the structure, the lyrics—they were fundamentally different. But in the court of public opinion, the accusation alone does damage. Seeing it dredged up again for cheap clicks is just another layer of that frustration.”
The core of the plaintiffs’ argument was that they had submitted their song to Underwood’s producer and were subsequently ignored, only to hear a similar song on the radio two years later. However, the courts found no “substantial similarity” between the two works.
Markus Thorne, a veteran music copyright attorney not affiliated with the case, reviewed the court’s public findings for this report. He notes that the verdict was a textbook application of copyright law.
“The plaintiffs’ case hinged on thematic and lyrical similarities that are incredibly common in the gospel and country genres,” Thorne explains. “You simply cannot copyright the concept of being ‘saved by the water’ or the use of common Christian phrases. The court correctly identified that beyond a shared title and a general theme, the musical DNA of the two songs was distinct. The melody, the harmonic progression, the core artistic expression—that’s what’s protected, and that’s where the plaintiffs’ case fell apart.”
Thorne added a crucial observation about the nature of the newly surfaced videos. “What we’re witnessing now is the weaponization of old, settled disputes for online engagement. The legal verdict is in and is a matter of public record, but the internet’s courtroom never closes its session. For the artists, it means a victory in a court of law doesn’t guarantee peace online.”
Ultimately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the lawsuit in 2021, bringing the matter to a definitive legal close. The official record is clear: Carrie Underwood did not plagiarize “Something in the Water.”
For Underwood’s vast fanbase, the song remains a testament to her faith and a cornerstone of her career. But for the artist and her team, its legacy is now permanently intertwined with a shadow—a reminder that in the digital age, a story is never truly over, and a settled score can always be re-litigated for the price of a click.