Dua Lipa scored a major legal victory after a judge dismissed a copyright lawsuit that accused her of plagiarizing elements of her 2020 hit song “Levitating.” U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled that the claims made by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer failed to demonstrate copyright infringement under the law.
The lawsuit, filed in 2022, alleged that Lipa copied elements from the 1979 song “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and the 1980 track “Don Diablo.” Brown and Linzer claimed that the opening melody of “Levitating” was a “duplicate” of their compositions and pointed to Lipa’s own statements about drawing inspiration from past musical eras. They argued that her intention to create a retro sound led to direct copying of their work.
However, Judge Failla ruled that the similarities between the songs were based on common musical elements that are not protectable under copyright law. The court found that the descending scale in question contained an additional note in “Levitating” and that the combination of a chord progression and harmonic rhythm could not constitute a unique, protectable expression. The ruling referenced the 2023 Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Ed Sheeran case, where Sheeran successfully defended himself against claims that his song copied Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
In her decision, Judge Failla acknowledged that a “layperson” could hear resemblances between “Levitating” and the older songs but emphasized that copyright law does not protect general musical elements that have been widely used in the industry. “There can be no substantial similarity (and thus no copyright violation) as a matter of law because the similarity between works concerns only non-copyrightable elements of the plaintiffs’ work,” she wrote in the ruling.
Attorney Jason T. Brown, representing Linzer and Brown, expressed disappointment in the ruling and signaled an appeal. “Even the defense expert acknowledged that people can hear the similarities between ‘Don Diablo’ and ‘Levitating,’” Brown said in a statement to Variety. “But under recent case law, including the Structured Asset Sales v. Sheeran decision, courts have become increasingly focused on what can be dissected and filtered out on paper rather than what is felt through the music itself. There’s a growing disconnect between how these cases are decided—by academically analyzing briefs, bar lines, and musical notation—versus how audiences actually experience music. The soul of a song doesn’t live in a court brief. It lives in the sound, the feel, and the performance—and that’s what juries should be allowed to hear and judge.”
Lipa has not publicly commented on the ruling, and her representatives have yet to respond to requests for a statement.
This marks the second time Lipa has successfully defended “Levitating” against a copyright claim. In 2023, a separate lawsuit filed by Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System was also dismissed. The group had accused Lipa and her co-writers of lifting the chorus from their 2015 song “Live Your Life.” The case was thrown out after a judge determined that there was no evidence that Lipa had “access” to the earlier song, a critical factor in copyright infringement cases.
Despite these legal wins, Lipa is still facing another lawsuit related to “Levitating.” In 2023, producer and musician Bosko Kante sued her for allegedly using his talkbox recording without permission in remixes of the song. Kante, who performed through a talkbox on the original track, is seeking damages of at least $2 million and claims that the remixes featuring his contribution have generated upwards of $20 million in profits.
Brown and Linzer’s lawsuit specifically focused on the melody in the opening lyrics of “Levitating,” where Lipa sings, “If you wanna run away with me, I know a galaxy and I can take you for a ride.” They argued that this melody closely mirrored their own compositions. However, Judge Failla ruled that such elements were too generic to warrant copyright protection. “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,” she wrote. “To hold otherwise would be to completely foreclose the further development of music in that genre or for that purpose.”
The ruling coincidentally came on the fifth anniversary of “Levitating’s” release as part of Lipa’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful album “Future Nostalgia.” Since its release, “Levitating” has become one of Lipa’s biggest hits, spending weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and amassing billions of streams globally.
Brown and Linzer’s attorneys reiterated their intent to appeal the ruling, stating that they believe the case deserves further judicial review. “We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and will be filing an appeal,” they said in a statement to Billboard.
Lipa’s legal team has yet to publicly respond to the latest developments, and the BBC has reached out for comment. Meanwhile, the pop star continues to enjoy the success of her music career, recently teasing new material and upcoming projects.
With another lawsuit still pending, the legal battles surrounding “Levitating” may not be over. However, with two victories in court so far, Lipa’s legal team has established a strong precedent that could influence how similar cases are decided in the future.
By Rodrigo García-Villoslada
