Dua Lipa has emerged victorious in a copyright lawsuit that alleged she had copied elements of her hit single "Levitating" from two other tracks. The case, filed in 2022 by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer, claimed that Lipa plagiarized their songs "Wiggle and Giggle All Night" from 1979 and "Don Diablo" from 1980. However, U.S. Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled on Thursday that the songs shared only basic similarities, identifying common musical elements that are not subject to copyright protection, pointing out that similar structures have been utilized by notable composers like Mozart and the Bee Gees in their classic "Stayin' Alive."
This legal victory marks the second time Lipa has successfully defended her work regarding "Levitating," a track that achieved international acclaim in 2020. Previously, she faced a lawsuit from the Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System, which alleged that Lipa had borrowed from their 2015 song "Live Your Life." However, that case was dropped in 2023 due to a lack of evidence that Lipa or her co-writers had prior access to the original work.
Despite this triumph, Lipa is currently contending with a third copyright challenge regarding "Levitating" from Bosko Kante, a featured artist who claims his contributions to the song were used in remixes without proper consent. Kante is seeking $2 million in damages along with a share of the earnings he estimates to be over $20 million from those remixes.
The lawsuit from Brown and Linzer focused primarily on the opening melody of "Levitating." They argued that the phrasing and notes were a direct replication of their songs; however, Judge Failla asserted that these elements were too generic for legal protection. In her ruling, she emphasized that music styles identified as "pop with a disco feel" and their intended function for entertainment and dancing cannot be exclusive to any one artist. This ruling fortuitously coincided with the fifth anniversary of the original release of "Levitating," which was featured on Lipa's successful album "Future Nostalgia." Following the decision, lawyers for Brown and Linzer expressed their intention to appeal, marking a continuing chapter in this ongoing legal saga. The BBC has reached out to Lipa for her thoughts on the ruling.
This legal victory marks the second time Lipa has successfully defended her work regarding "Levitating," a track that achieved international acclaim in 2020. Previously, she faced a lawsuit from the Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System, which alleged that Lipa had borrowed from their 2015 song "Live Your Life." However, that case was dropped in 2023 due to a lack of evidence that Lipa or her co-writers had prior access to the original work.
Despite this triumph, Lipa is currently contending with a third copyright challenge regarding "Levitating" from Bosko Kante, a featured artist who claims his contributions to the song were used in remixes without proper consent. Kante is seeking $2 million in damages along with a share of the earnings he estimates to be over $20 million from those remixes.
The lawsuit from Brown and Linzer focused primarily on the opening melody of "Levitating." They argued that the phrasing and notes were a direct replication of their songs; however, Judge Failla asserted that these elements were too generic for legal protection. In her ruling, she emphasized that music styles identified as "pop with a disco feel" and their intended function for entertainment and dancing cannot be exclusive to any one artist. This ruling fortuitously coincided with the fifth anniversary of the original release of "Levitating," which was featured on Lipa's successful album "Future Nostalgia." Following the decision, lawyers for Brown and Linzer expressed their intention to appeal, marking a continuing chapter in this ongoing legal saga. The BBC has reached out to Lipa for her thoughts on the ruling.
