Dua Lipa Scores Legal Win as Judge Rules 'Levitating' Did Not Copy 1979 Disco Hit

A federal judge has sided in Dua Lipa's favor, dismissing a lawsuit claiming the pop singer's 2020 hit song "Levitating" plagiarized two disco songs from the late 1970s. The decision represents a big win for the top-of-the-charts artist, who had previously faced a slew of copyright claims over the hit single.

In 2022, songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer sued over "Levitating," singing that the song lifted the melody from their tracks "Wiggle and Giggle All Night," from 1979, and "Don Diablo," from 1980. But District Judge Katherine Polk Failla said Thursday the similarities between Lipa's song and the plaintiffs' works were so generic that they were not protected by copyright, per PEOPLE.

However, the musical elements in the two songs are, as Judge Failla noted, not the type of thing that is owned by one artist or another. She cited the music was "used for centuries" in works by Mozart, then compared it to the Bee Gees 1977 hit "Stayin' Alive" in the way of high and low activities during music.

In her ruling, Failla showed a recurring theme seen earlier in 2023 when singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was accused of copying Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" for his song "Thinking Out Loud," also in a finding of infringement.

"Fundamental building blocks of music cannot be monopolized."

The court found that Sheeran's song only shared "fundamental musical building blocks" with Gaye's classic, a principle that played a key role in the dismissal of the case against Lipa.

Repeated Copyright Win for 'Levitating'

This is the second time Lipa has fended off copyright claims against "Levitating." A lawsuit filed in 2023 by the Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System was also dismissed when a judge found there was no proof that Lipa and her co-writers had access to Artikal Sound System's 2015 song "Live Your Life," which the plaintiffs claimed had been plagiarized.

Regardless of the legal challenges, "Levitating" is one of Lipa's biggest hits, logging six weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 and becoming a signature track for the star.

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