Dua Lipa celebrates a significant win as a court has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed she plagiarized her viral hit "Levitating." The lawsuit, filed by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer in 2022, argued that her song copied elements from their disco tracks "Wiggle and Giggle All Night" and "Don Diablo."
On Thursday, Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled that any similarities were generic and not eligible for copyright protection. She noted that the elements identified in the lawsuit were similar to those used by famous composers like Mozart and the Bee Gees in "Stayin' Alive."
This is not Lipa's first victory over claims regarding "Levitating;" she previously overcame a lawsuit from the Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System, which alleged she borrowed from their 2015 song "Live Your Life." That case was also dismissed due to a lack of proof that Lipa and her collaborators had access to the earlier work.
However, Lipa still faces another challenge from musician Bosko Kante, who contributed to "Levitating" and is suing for damages, claiming his work was used without permission in remixes of the song.
The initial claims in Brown and Linzer's suit revolved around the opening melody of "Levitating." Despite their assertion that the melody was a direct duplicate, Judge Failla stated that such musical features cannot be legally protected. Her ruling coincidentally fell on the fifth anniversary of "Levitating," which debuted on her acclaimed album "Future Nostalgia."
The plaintiffs have expressed their disagreement with the ruling and are planning to file an appeal.
