A U.S. appeals court ruled Thursday that Justin Bieber and Usher will have to face a $10 million lawsuit claiming the singers illegally copied portions of a song created by two Virginia songwriters, Reuters reports. 

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond voted 3-0 to reinstate a May 2013 lawsuit by R&B singer Devin Copeland, also known as De Rico, and his songwriting partner Mareio Overton, declaring that a lower court judge was wrong to dismiss it.

According to Copeland and Overton, three versions of the song "Somebody to Love" were recorded by Bieber and Usher that had a similar time signature, beat pattern, chords and lyrics as their song with the same title.

The plaintiffs alleged that their song, which was written in 2008, was played to Usher by music scouts. Usher liked the song and introduced it to Bieber.

"After listening to the Copeland song and the Bieber and Usher songs as wholes, we conclude that their choruses are similar enough and also significant enough that a reasonable jury could find the songs intrinsically similar," Circuit Judge Pamela Harris said in a written statement for the appeals court.

Harris also said the lyric "somebody to love" was delivered in an "almost identical rhythm and a strikingly similar melody."

Listed among the defendants are publishers Vivendi SA's Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony Corp's Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

Duncan Byers, a lawyer for Copeland and Overton, said in an interview that the panel "recognized what my clients have said all along: it's the same melody and the same chorus."

The lawsuit will return to the lower court, according to Reuters.

A version of "Somebody to Love" recorded by Bieber in 2010 credited him as a co-writer. It peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 that same year.

U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen had dismissed the origin lawsuit in March 2014 citing that no jury would find copyright infringement.