Dua Lipa secured a legal victory after a judge dismissed a copyright lawsuit over her 2020 hit Levitating.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled that the plaintiffs, L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer, failed to provide sufficient evidence proving a “substantial similarity” between Levitating and their 1979 disco song Wiggle and Giggle All Night.
In their complaint, Brown and Linzer alleged that Lipa copied elements from two of their songs—Wiggle and Giggle All Night (1979) and Don Diablo (1980).
They claimed that Levitating’s opening melody was lifted from their work and pointed to Lipa’s past statements in which she acknowledged drawing inspiration from the disco era to create a “retro sound.”
However, the judge ruled that the melody was not protected under copyright law, citing the Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Ed Sheeran case. This federal court decision involved a lawsuit claiming that Sheeran’s song Thinking Out Loud copied Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On.
Sheeran won the case, with the court concluding that a “chord progression and harmonic rhythm, in combination, could not constitute protectable expression under copyright law.”
“The Court finds that a musical style, defined by Plaintiffs as ‘pop with a disco feel,’ and a musical function, defined by Plaintiffs to include ‘entertainment and dancing,’ cannot possibly be protectable — alone or in tandem — because … [that would] completely foreclose the further development of music in that genre or for that purpose,” wrote Judge Failla.
In 2022, Lipa and her lawyer argued that they had never heard of the songs Wiggle and Giggle and Don Diablo.
“The alleged similarities — a descending scale in which each pitch is repeated on evenly spaced notes and a common clave rhythm— are unprotectable, and the result of the coincidental use of basic musical building blocks,” wrote Atty. Christina Lepa.
Following the case’s dismissal, Atty. Lepa expressed her sentiments in an interview with the Rolling Stone.
“We are very pleased with the summary judgment decision, and with the Court’s recognition that music building blocks exist and are accessible to all creators.”
Meanwhile, Atty. Jason Brown, the legal representative for Linzer and Brown, stated in Variety that they “respectfully disagree” with the court’s ruling and plan to appeal.
