James a Newman after his court victory

James Newman is a British singer-songwriter who won the Brit Award for British Single of the Year as a co-writer of the 2013 Rudimental hit “Waiting All Night”.

Kelly-Marie Smith has since claimed the hit song was in fact copied from one of her own songs she wrote in 2006 called Can You Tell Me. Smith issued proceedings against Newman in the High Court alleging that there are significant similarities between the two songs which cannot be explained away by “mounting coincidence”. Newman’s legal representatives disagreed and claimed Newman wrote “Waiting All Night” whilst he was working at a restaurant before he became a successful performer in his own right.

Judge Zacaroli held, with the help from musicologists, that there was limited similarities between the two songs, in particular the choruses, he concluded that there was also significant differences. Judge Zacaroli stated that the lyrics used in both songs are commonplace expressions. Further, the allegation that Smith’s song, which was not well known and not released, filtered through to Newman was a tenuous connection. Judge Zacaroli dismissed Smith’s claim.

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