Dua Lipa.Photo:Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
Dua Lipaand Warner Records have won the dismissal of a copyright case involving her hit song “Levitating.”
In a Los Angeles federal court on Monday, U.S. District Judge Sunshine Sykes declared that Artikal Sound System — the reggae band accusing Lipa — failed to argue that the writers of “Levitating” had “access” to the song “Live Your Life” they alleged she copied, perReutersandBillboard.
The bandfiled the lawsuit against the pop star, 27, in March of last year — and claimed that her 2020 song borrowed its hook from their 2017 song.
During the hearing, the group said “Live Your Life” was played at several concerts, sold several hundred copies of a CD with the song on it and was available through some streaming services, according to the outlets.
Dua Lipa.Gareth Cattermole/Getty
Gareth Cattermole/Getty
Still, Judge Sykes said that was not enough evidence.
“Plaintiffs’ failure to specify how frequently they performed ‘Live Your Life’ publicly during the specified period, where these performances took place, and the size of the venues and/or audiences precludes the Court from finding that Plaintiffs’ live performances of the song plausibly contributed to its saturation of markets in which Defendants would have encountered it,” the judge said, perBillboard.
Though the lawsuit was dismissed, the judge also ruled that Artikal Sound System could try and fix the flaws in their argument she pointed out and file an amended complaint.
A rep for the “Pretty Please” singer did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Artikal Sound Systemfiled the complaint in March 2022and claimed that Lipa, Warner Records and her co-songwriters and producers “listened to and copied ‘Live Your Life’ before and during the time when they were writing ‘Levitating.'”
“‘Levitating’ is substantially similar to ‘Live Your Life,'” the complaint, which did not provide specifics as to how they believe the song was copied, said. “Given the degree of similarity, it is highly unlikely that ‘Levitating’ was created independently from ‘Live Your Life.'”
The track peaked at No. 2 on theBillboardHot 100, but topped the Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 charts. It was also the No. 1 song onBillboard’s Hot 100 Year-End chart.
source: people.com
