Dua Lipa’s lawyers have asked a judge to toss out one of two lawsuits over her 2020 hit “Levitating” because the pop star and her co-writers “never heard” the songs they are accused of copying.
In March, songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer accused Lipa of copying their 1979 track “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and 1980’s “Don Diablo.”
Lipa is credited as co-writer of “Levitating,” which was penned by Clarence Coffee Jr., Sarah Hudson and Canada’s Stephen Kozmeniuk.
Christine Lepera, the lead lawyer representing Lipa and the other songwriters, said in an Aug. 30 filing that any similarities between the songs are nothing more than “the result of the coincidental use of basic musical building blocks” that are not protected by copyright law.
She argued that the plaintiffs have failed to show that Lipa and the others had access to their songs – “or, indeed, had even been born” when they came out.
“The complaint alleges defendants purportedly had access to ‘Wiggle’ and ‘Don Diablo’ because they both ‘can be found on popular streaming services’,” Lepera wrote. “However, there are many millions of musical recordings available on streaming services, and the mere availability of recordings on those services does not establish wide dissemination.”
A lawyer for Brown and Linzer has said he intends to file a rebuttal.
“Levitating” is also the subject of a lawsuit filed earlier this year by Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System, which claims the song copies their 2017 track “Live Your Life.”