Rammstein accused of plagiarism by a French synthwave duo

Rammstein are being sued for copyright infringement by a French synthwave duo called Ninja Cyborg, who claim that Till Lindemann and co.'s 2019 single “Deutschland” is a plagiarism of their 2019 song “The Sunny Road”. 2018.

In particular, the French group formed by Marc Botté and Martin Antiphon claimed that the German industrial group took the guitar riff from their piece and, after having already gone through legal proceedings in 2021 and having their first request rejected, they decided to appeal. The Ninja Cyborgs then turned to the Paris Court of Appeal and in 2022 an expert, Richard Dubugnon, was appointed to examine the two tracks. As reported by DayFR Euro, Dubugnon noted that, “without a doubt”, Rammstein “voluntarily borrowed the riff and other melodic elements” from “The Sunny Road”, adding that there are “too many similarities” and that ” it is therefore plagiarism.”

The duo, who had themselves previously been accused of plagiarism by fans of Lindemann and co when they raised the issue in 2020, then said ahead of the expert's outcome: “We want this piece to be recognized as ours and that we no longer spend our lives as artists constantly justifying ourselves.” The first hearing at the Paris Court has now been set for April 10th. At the moment, Rammstein have not released any statement on the matter.