Dua Lipa’s 2020 track ‘levitating’ continues to dominate global music charts, social media platforms, and copyright infringements as she gets sued twice within one week.

A little-known South Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System filed a copyright infringement suit against Lipa, accusing her of taking elements of their 2017 song “Live Your Life.” A second complaint was filed by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer. They said Lipa’s hit single copied a disco song from 1979 called “Wiggle and Giggle All Night,” as well as the 1980 track “Don Pablo,” a song for which the pair hold the rights to. 

The first suit by attorneys for Artikal Sound System didn’t back up their claim with hard evidence, claiming that she and her co-writers “listened to and copied ‘Live Your Life’ before and during the time when they were writing ‘Levitating.’” They added that the songs are “substantially similar,” and though they didn’t explain how, even a casual listener can hear similarities between the two.

The second suit by Brown and Linzer’s attorney claims Lipa stole the vocal melody from two of their songs. In contrast to the claim of the first suit, the pair displayed a much more detailed suit that compares musical notations of their work against Lipa’s bar-for-bar. Though the suit doesn’t explain how or when Dua Lipa and her co-writers allegedly heard “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” or “Don Diablo,” it argues that they had “reasonable access” to them, given that both songs are widely available on streaming platforms. 

“Defendants have levitated away plaintiffs’ intellectual property,” Brown and Linzer’s lawyers joked in the legal complaint. “Plaintiffs bring suit so that defendants cannot wiggle out of their willful infringement.”

A complaint by Brown and Linzar says, “Lipa admitted that she deliberately emulated prior eras of music to create Future Nostalgia, the aptly named album on which ‘Levitating’ appears […] In seeking nostalgic inspiration, Defendants copied Plaintiffs’ creation without attribution.” Apparently, the plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount. They also say that they’ve suffered damages “including lost profits to be proven at trial.”

Journalist Drew Busch at VICE spoke to Richard Busch, a lawyer who won a $5 million infringement suit over the song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, who confirmed the potential money that could be on the line.

“We’re talking about $10 or $15 million, probably, in ultimate profits, depending on uses, sync licenses, concert revenue, and touring revenue,” said Busch. “If a musicologist says the use [of Brown and Linzer’s song] is worth 50 percent, then you can do the math: They’d be going after 50 percent of the profit. I’m sure she’s not going to want to give that up. I’m sure the other writers and producers aren’t going to want to give up their share. But if the plaintiff says, “Listen, I’ll take $200,000,” then they’ll probably settle.”

“Levitating” peaked at number two on Billboard’s Hot 100 and was named the number one Hot 100 song of 2021. According to Billboard, the track is also the longest-running top 10 song by a female artist.

Published by: HOLR Magazine.