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Dua Lipa Wins 'Levitating' Copyright Case as Judge Dismisses Infringement Lawsuit
A judge has ruled that pop star Dua Lipa did not plagiarize L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer’s songs "Wiggle and Giggle All Night" and "Don Diablo."
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A copyright lawsuit against Dua Lipa over her hit "Levitating" has been dismissed
The 2022 lawsuit claimed the pop megastar ripped off the L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer-penned disco song "Wiggle and Giggle All Night"
According to L. Russell and Linzer's attorney Jason T. Brown, the pair plan to appeal the ruling
Dua Lipa no longer has to prove she didn't plagiarize tracks by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer.
In court documents obtained by PEOPLE from Thursday, March 27, a Manhattan judge dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the pop megastar, 29, claiming she ripped off their 1979 song "Wiggle and Giggle All Night" on her hit "Levitating."
In a written statement, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled that there was not a "substantial similarity" between the pair of tracks and dismissed the lawsuit.
Dua Lipa Faces Another Lawsuit over 'Levitating,'Producer Says Remixes Feature Unlicensed 'Talk Box' Sample: Report
In addition to "Wiggle and Giggle All Night," L. Russell and Linzer had also claimed "Levitating" had used elements of the 1980 Miguel Bosé song "Don Diablo," to which they also own the copyright.
However, the judge cited a ruling from last year that declared Ed Sheeran did not rip off Marvin Gaye, noting that “Levitating” and “Wiggle” had similarities to music from Wolfgang Mozart, Gilbert and Sullivan, Gioachino Rossini and the Bee Gees — specifically “Stayin’ Alive.”
“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 — alone or in tandem — because … [that would] completely foreclose the further development of music in that genre or for that purpose," Failla wrote.
Lipa's attorney has not yet responded to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Jason T. Brown, Linzer and L. Russell's lawyer (who happens to be the latter's nephew), told PEOPLE that they "respectfully disagree" with the court's ruling and "intend to appeal."
"This case has always been about standing up for the enduring value of original songwriting, and we continue to believe in the strength of Mr. Brown and Mr. Linzer’s creative legacy," he said in a statement. "Even the defense expert acknowledged that people can hear the similarities between "Don Diablo" and "Levitating." 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."
He added: "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."
Reps for Lipa and additional defendants Clarence Coffee Jr., Sarah Hudson, Stephen Kozmeniuk, Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Corporation and Warner Records Inc. have not yet responded to PEOPLE's requests for comment.
In March 2022, the "Physical" hitmaker was hit with a second copyright infringement lawsuit over "Levitating" by L. Russell and Linzer.
She was one of several defendants named in a complaint that alleged the hit was "substantially similar" to the 1979 Cory Daye song "Wiggle and Giggle All Night," penned by L. Russell and Linzer.
L. Russell and Linzer claimed that the song's "signature melody…is a duplicate" of the opening melody of "Wiggle and Giggle All Night" and the 1980 Miguel Bosé song "Don Diablo," to which they also own the copyright, per the complaint, which was obtained by PEOPLE.
"The notes move in the same direction with evenly matched intervals or 'steps,' and almost identical rhythms," the complaint read, noting that the opening melody is repeated six times in "Levitating," and three times in a remix featuring DaBaby.
Brown and Linzer noted that Lipa had spoken about finding inspiration in older disco-era songs in several interviews, and said they filed the suit so that she and the other defendants "cannot wiggle out of their willful infringement."
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Dua Lipa Hit with Second Copyright Infringement Suit Over Hit Song 'Levitating'
"Lipa admitted that she deliberately emulated prior eras of music to create Future Nostalgia, the aptly named album on which 'Levitating' appears," the complaint read. "In seeking nostalgic inspiration, Defendants copied Plaintiffs' creation without attribution."
The plaintiffs were requesting an unspecified amount of damages.
At the time, a rep for Lipa did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Lipa also faced a copyright infringement suit from the Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System, claiming that "Levitating" ripped off their 2017 song "Live Your Life." She won the dismissal of that suit in June 2023.
The "New Rules" hitmaker was also hit with a third lawsuit over "Levitating" in July 2023 from music producer Bosko Kante who claimed the pop star was never given permission to use his "talk box" recording in her remixes of "Levitating," per Billboard.
