Dua Lipa is facing another copyright lawsuit over her hit song “Levitating”.
According to multiple reports, a complaint was filed by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer in Manhattan Federal Court on Friday (4 March).
Brown and Linzer allege that the opening melody of “Levitating” is a copy of their 1979 song “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and the 1980 song “Don Diablo.”
“The signature melody is the most listened to and recognisable part of the infringing works and plays a crucial role in their popularity,” the lawsuit reviewed by Billboard states. “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.”
The plaintiffs claimed that Lipa has previously admitted to having “deliberately emulated prior eras” and “[taking] inspiration” from old music in order to create a “retro” sound.
“In seeking nostalgic inspiration, defendants copied plaintiffs’ creation without attribution,” Brown and Linzer’s lawyers wrote. “Defendants have levitated away plaintiffs’ intellectual property.”
Plaintiffs bring suit so that defendants cannot wiggle out of their wilful infringement.”
Dua Lipa has not yet responded to the lawsuit. The Independent has contacted her representatives for comment.
This lawsuit comes a few days after Florida-based reggae band Artikal Sound System sued Lipa for copyright infringement for allegedly stealing “Levitating” from their 2017 track “Live Your Life.”
In the lawsuit filed in a Los Angeles court, the band reportedly claims that the English singer’s hit song, which spent 68 weeks on Billboard Hot 100 chart, was taken from their lesser-known track.
The complaint was “very short” and didn’t contain details as to exactly how Lipa had stolen the South Florida band’s song. The lawsuit alleged that “Levitating” and “Live Your Life” were so similar that it was “highly unlikely” for Lipa’s song to be “created independently”.
Ed Sheeran is currently in court following accusations of stealing parts of his 2017 hit song “Shape of You” from another track written by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue.
During the trial, he was called a “magpie” and was accused of “borrowing” ideas from other musicians.
