British songstress, Dua Lipa, has successfully defended a copyright infringement claim brought by songwriters L Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer. The pair issued proceedings against Lipa in 2022, claiming her single ‘Levitating’ copied elements of their own tracks ‘Wiggle and Giggle All Night’ and ‘Don Diablo’ released in 1979 and 1980 respectively.
Brown and Linzer alleged in particular that the opening melody and phrasing of Levitating was a “duplicate” of the melody of their own two songs. However, Judge Katherine Polk Failla, of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, disagreed with their claims on the basis the elements relied upon by the pair were too generic for copyright to subsist.
In her judgment, Judge Failla concluded, “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,” continuing, “To hold otherwise would be to completely foreclose the further development of music in that genre or for that purpose”.
In a statement published in Billboard, the claimants’ representatives expressed their dissatisfaction with the Judge’s findings and confirmed the claimants’ intention to appeal the decision. Whether the pair will be successful on appeal remains to be seen.
This case is the second instance in which Dua Lipa has fought off copyright infringement claims over her song Levitating, having also had a claim by Florida band, Artikal Sound System, dismissed in 2023.
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