Rammstein sued for plagiarism over ‘Deutschland’ riff

Rammstein are facing a lawsuit from a French group, Ninja Cyborg, who claim the German metallers’ 2019 hit ‘Deutschland’ plagiarises their song ‘The Sunny Road’.

According to Day FR Euro, Ninja Cyborg filed the lawsuit in the Paris Court of Appeal after an earlier claim was thrown out in 2021. The appeal cites legal music expert Richard Dubugnon, who claims that Rammstein borrowed the riff and other melodic elements” from ‘The Sunny Road’. He notes that he believes there are “too many similarities” between the songs, leading him to conclude it is “without a doubt” plagiarism.

Rammstein fans had previously suggested that it was Ninja Cyborg who stole the riff, but this would not have been possible as ‘The Sunny Road’ came out a year before ‘Deutschland’.

“I don’t like Rammstein and I don’t listen to this group,” Ninja Cyborg’s Marc Botté told Le Nouvel Obs when asked about the accusations, which surfaced in 2020. “I created that riff. I knew very well that I hadn’t plagiarised them.”

Botté did say he had wondered if he’d written a similar riff to Rammstein by chance, but after the band learned ‘Deutschland’ was released after ‘The Sunny Road’, they decided to take legal action.

The group added: “We want this piece to be recognized as ours and that we no longer spend our lives as artists perpetually justifying ourselves,”

Rammstein have not yet responded to the accusations. The case will be heard before the Intellectual Property Chamber of the Paris Judicial Court in September.

Last year, the band’s frontman Till Lindemann was the subject of an investigation by German police over allegations of sexual misconduct.

The investigation was opened back in June after several women came forward, claiming that the singer drugged and recruited them to engage in sexual activity. Lindenmann had previously denied the allegations with his attorneys adding that the claims were “without exception untrue”.

In August, the investigation was dropped, with police citing a lack of evidence.