Dua Lipa Is Being Sued Over Levitating… Again
A second lawsuit claims Dua Lipa lifted melodies for her hit "Levitating" from two more songs written in 1979 and 1980.
The year 2022 is only just beginning, but already it’s been a tough one for Dua Lipa. The pop singer has just been hit with her second lawsuit in as many weeks, with both claiming she stole melodies from other songs to create one of her most popular singles.
This time around, songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer have launched a legal fight against the singer, suggesting she took part of two songs they wrote — 1979’s “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” by Cory Day and 1980’s “Don Diablo” by Miguel Bosé, in order to create her global smash “Levitating.” While neither of the earlier tunes were huge hits in the U.S., they did reach an audience globally during their heyday.
The songwriters claim that the first few seconds of the three songs sound very similar, and that is very important these days. Since attention spans are very short, the intro and opening lines are often what grab people and keep them listening. “Levitating” found many fans on TikTok, which encourages instant catchiness, and thus the argument that only a few seconds matter carries some weight.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, which quoted the lawsuit, the lawyers who drafted the argument had some fun with the wording, incorporating both the name of Lipa’s hit and the ones written by their clients.
“Defendants have levitated away plaintiffs’ intellectual property,” they wrote, adding, “Plaintiffs bring suit so that defendants cannot wiggle out of their willful infringement.” The complaint also quotes Lipa in interviews surrounding her most recent era, when she said she was inspired by songs from years past, and that she aimed to emulate what others had done.
Songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer are the second group to sue Lipa over “Levitating” alone. Just last week, Florida-based Artikal Sound System also lobbed a legal complaint against the Grammy-winning pop singer over the same tune, claiming it is essentially a soundalike of their track “Live Your Life.” That case is likely just beginning.
“Levitating” was one of the standout hit singles from Lipa’s Future Nostalgia album, which she is currently touring across the U.S. The smash rose all the way to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in America, becoming her second hit from the full-length to fail to reach the summit by one frustrating rung (following “Don’t Stop Now”).
The song was also mired in some controversy last year when DaBaby, who was featured on the radio-ready single version of “Levitating,” made some highly derogatory remarks. While on stage at a concert, the rapper, seemingly unprovoked, said, “[If] you didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put a cellphone light in the air…. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put a cellphone light in the air.”
The resulting condemnation was swift, and even Lipa got in on it. His verse was removed from the song, which continued to perform well on the charts long after DaBaby was no longer involved.
Dua Lipa – “Levitating”
Miguel Bosé – “Don Diablo”
Cory Day – “A Wiggle And A Giggle All Night”
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