Dua Lipa secured a court victory when a Los Angeles court dismissed a lawsuit pertaining to her hit song “Levitating”
Florida reggae group had claimed that Lipa’s hit “Levitating” was a copy of one of its songs.
U.S. District Judge Sunshine Sykes said Artikal Sound System failed to argue that the writers of “Levitating” ever had access to the group’s 2017 song “Live Your Life.”
Sykes gave the group an opportunity to file a new complaint. She also rejected the band’s request to move its case to New York to be heard with another infringement lawsuit by songwriters Sandy Linzer and L. Russell Brown over alleged similarities between “Levitating” and their disco songs “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and “Don Diablo.”
Artikal Sound System attorney Stewart Levy said on Tuesday that the decision was disappointing and the band is considering its next steps. Representatives for Lipa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Levitating” spent 77 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 U.S. singles chart, peaking at No. 2 in 2021.
The complaint, filed in 2022, said it was “highly unlikely” that “Levitating” was made independently “given the degree of similarity” between the two songs’ melodies, harmonies and other elements.
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