A federal judge has unearthed flaws in a copyright lawsuit accusing Dua Lipa of plagiarizing her chart-topping hit, “Levitating,” from what is reported to be a relatively unknown reggae track. The judge found no evidence to support the claim that Lipa had even heard the song she’s accused of copying according to Billboard.
Last year, the band Artikal Sound System filed a lawsuit against the pop star, alleging that her 2020 hit which she recorded in Jamaica at Geejam studios for her second album “Future Nostalgia” {2020}, borrowed the core hook from their 2017 tune, “Live Your Life.” However, U.S. District Judge Sunshine S. Sykes ruled on Monday that there was no indication that anyone involved in creating “Levitating” had access to the earlier song, a crucial element in any copyright case.
Artikal Sound System proposed a theory to the courts, suggesting that one of Lipa’s co-writers had previously collaborated with a woman who allegedly received guitar lessons from the brother-in-law of a band member. Nonetheless, Judge Sykes dismissed these tenuous connections, stating that they bore little relevance to the two musical compositions in question and did not imply a reasonable likelihood that the defendants encountered the plaintiffs’ song.
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The band also contended that “Live Your Life” was widely available, implying that Lipa and her team must have heard it. They cited the song’s performances at concerts, the sale of “several hundred” physical CDs, and its availability on certain streaming platforms. However, Judge Sykes deemed these arguments too generic and insubstantial to sustain a lawsuit.
While Monday’s ruling dismissed the lawsuit against Dua Lipa, the case is not yet concluded. The judge granted Artikal Sound System the opportunity to rectify the identified errors and file an amended complaint.
As of now, representatives for both parties have not responded to requests for comment.
“Levitating,” which appeared on Lipa’s second studio album, “Future Nostalgia,” enjoyed immense success. The album is her first Billboard 200 top ten and it is the 10th most successful album globally of 2020 and number 6 in 2021 according to IFPI. The Guinness Book of World Record places it at number 6 on the list of most streamed albums on Spotify with more than 10 billion streams. song holds the distinction of being the longest-running top 10 song ever by a female artist on the chart.
Artikal Sound System, a reggae band originating from South Florida, was founded in 2012 as a duo and later expanded to include additional musicians and vocalist Logan Rex. The band released “Live Your Life” on their 2017 EP, “Smoke and Mirrors.”
In their lawsuit filed in March, Artikal Sound System claimed that the similarities between the songs made it highly improbable that “Levitating” was created independently. The lawsuit also named Warner Records and other contributors to the hit track.
However, in November, Lipa’s legal team presented counter-arguments that were largely upheld in Monday’s ruling. They dismissed the band’s attempts to establish that Lipa or the other writers had heard “Live Your Life” as speculative and unfounded.
The ruling had granted Artikal Sound System until June 16 to refile their case but on Wednesday, (June 7), attorneys for both Artikal Sound System and Lipa filed a joint motion, asking the judge to permanently dismiss the case according to Billboard. The report further states that “there was no indication that Lipa had agreed to pay any money or change the credits to her song.”
Lipa’s attorney Christine Lepera confirmed in a statement that the band had chosen to walk away from the litigation unilaterally and that no settlement had been reached.
“Following the court’s decision dismissing their complaint, the plaintiffs voluntarily chose to discontinue the case with prejudice, without any consideration whatsoever from the defendants, who were prepared to vigorously defend any continuation of the case,” said Lepera, an attorney at the law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp.
