Dua Lipa is facing a second copyright lawsuit over her hit ‘Levitating’, less than a week after it was reported that Artikal Sound System had sued the singer for allegedly plagiarising their song ‘Live Your Life’.
As Billboard reports, in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court on Friday (March 4), songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer allege that Lipa “duplicate[d]” the “signature” opening melody for ‘Levitating’ from their 1979 song ‘Wiggle and a Giggle All Night’ and 1980 song ‘Don Diablo’, performed by Cory Daye and Miguel Bosé respectively.
“The signature melody is the most listened to and recognizable part of the infringing works and plays a crucial role in their popularity,” the complaint reads. “Because video creators frequently truncate the already brief snippets of sound on TikTok, the signature melody often comprises fifty percent or more of these viral videos.”
Brown and Linzer also argue that Lipa has admitted in the past to having “deliberately emulated prior eras” and “[taking] inspiration” from earlier music in order to create a “retro” sound. “In seeking nostalgic inspiration, defendants copied plaintiffs’ creation without attribution,” attorneys for the pair wrote.
“Defendants have levitated away plaintiffs’ intellectual property. Plaintiffs bring suit so that defendants cannot wiggle out of their willful infringement,” they continued. Lipa’s label, Warner, and collaborator DaBaby, are also named as defendants in the suit.
Listen to ‘Levitating’ and compare it with ‘Wiggle and Giggle All Night’ and ‘Don Diablo’ below:
Last week, it was revealed that Florida reggae group Artikal Sound System had filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Federal Court accusing Lipa of copying elements of their song ‘Live Your Life’ when creating ‘Levitating’. According to the band, they released their track in 2017, while ‘Levitating’ first arrived in 2020.
The complaint argued the tracks are so similar it is “highly unlikely that ‘Levitating’ was created independently”. The band are reportedly seeking any profits from ‘Levitating’ along with damages.
‘Levitating’ originally appeared on Lipa’s second studio album, 2020’s ‘Future Nostalgia’, which NME called “powerful pop perfection from a star unafraid to speak her mind” in a five-star review.
Two remixes of ‘Levitating’ followed the original song’s release – a version featuring Madonna and Missy Elliott that was included on the Blessed Madonna-produced ‘Club Future Nostalgia’ remix album, and another with rapper DaBaby.
Over the weekend, Lipa teased a forthcoming collaborative single with Houston Rapper Megan Thee Stallion. The track is set to arrive this Friday (March 11).
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