Songwriters accuse Carrie Underwood, NFL of copying SNF theme in lawsuit

A songwriting team is suing country music star Carrie Underwood, the NFL, and NBC for allegedly plagiarizing the 2018 Sunday Night Football theme song "Game On."

In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in New York, singer Heidi Merrill and her co-writers state that Underwood's "Game On" is "substantially - even strikingly - similar, if not identical" to a song Merrill uploaded on YouTube in March 2017, according to Jonathan Stempel of Reuters. Merrill's song is also titled "Game On."

Merrill alleges her copyright was infringed after Underwood's producer, Mark Bright, rejected her pitch to use her song "Game On" for Sunday Night Football in August 2017.

"Ms. Underwood recorded a song that was substantially similar to the original song submitted through her producer, without giving credit or compensation of any kind to the original songwriters," Tim Foster, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said in an interview. "We assume that there will be significant damages."

Underwood has performed the Sunday Night Football theme since 2013.