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Dua Lipa had to face the second lawsuit for her song “Levitating” published in 2020. The accusation was that the singer had plagued two songs from the 1970s and 1980s. The responsible court in New York now dismissed the lawsuit.
The accusation came from the songwriters L. Russel Brown and Sandy Linz. According to them, the British singer is said to have stolen from two of her songs, “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” (1979) and “Don Diablo” (1980). The affected section in “Levitating” is the beginning of the song with the line “If you wanna runa away with me …”. The tone leaders in this passage was particularly disputed.
The melody can be found in numerous songs
Nevertheless, the judges came to the decision that this melody could not be protected, on the grounds that it was too familiar. Similar melodies would also be found in pieces by Mozart, Gilbert and Sullivan. The song “Stayin ‘Alive” from the Bee Gees would also have similarities in this regard. In addition, the entire style of music, which the plaintiffs described as “pop with disco feeling”, cannot be legally protected. “Other findings would completely prevent music in this genre or for this purpose,” said the judge in this regard.
Dua Lipa: “Levitating” ever caused trouble
As early as 2023, Dua Lipa was sued for the same song. At that time, the reggae band Article Sound System from Florida accused her of copied the group’s song “Live Your Life” from 2015. However, the process was dropped because there was no necessary evidence that the 29-year-old or her team knew the song. In this case, however, the melody was not the melody, but above all the lyrics – more precisely the chorus: “I got you, moonlight, you’re my Starlight / I need you all night, come on, dance with me”.