Dua Lipa wins second copyright lawsuit over her global hit ‘Levitating’
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British pop star Dua Lipa has scored another legal victory after a US court dismissed a copyright claim against her hit single Levitating, ruling that the song did not unlawfully copy from two disco tracks from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The lawsuit was brought by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer, who alleged that Lipa’s track borrowed heavily from their songs Wiggle and Giggle All Night (1979) and Don Diablo (1980). They claimed the opening melody of Levitating was a “duplicate” of their work.
But on Thursday, US Judge Katherine Polk Failla concluded the similarities were too generic to be protected, noting that the musical elements were so commonplace that they’d even appeared in compositions by Mozart, Gilbert and Sullivan, and the Bee Gees.
Copyright claims dismissed as ‘too generic’
In her ruling, Judge Failla explained that the contested elements—like the melody and rhythmic phrasing—were not original enough to justify protection under copyright law. “To hold otherwise would be to completely foreclose the further development of music in that genre,” she wrote.
Brown and Linzer had pointed to the now-famous opening line of Levitating — “If you wanna run away with me, I know a galaxy and I can take you for a ride” — as evidence of copying. But the judge ruled that the style and function of pop music with a disco feel couldn’t be locked down by law.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs say they ‘respectfully disagree’ with the decision and plan to appeal.
Third lawsuit still pending over remix vocals
This marks the second time Dua Lipa has successfully defended herself against plagiarism accusations over Levitating, which became a global hit after its release on her 2020 album Future Nostalgia. An earlier lawsuit filed by Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System was dismissed in 2023 after the court found no evidence that Lipa or her team had access to the song in question.
However, legal troubles around the track aren’t entirely behind her. A third case remains open, filed by musician Bosko Kante, who claims his talk-box vocals were used without permission in remixes of Levitating. He’s seeking over $2 million in damages and a share of the estimated $20 million profits made from the remixes.
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