Duo Lita(gation): Dua Lipa faces two US copyright lawsuits over “Levitating”

The first came last week from a Florida Reggae band, Artikal Sound System, referencing their song Live Your Life. A clip can be heard here: https://youtu.be/j5VMmTxpYSc?t=18.

The second comes from a songwriter pair that claim the opening melody to “Levitating” is a “duplicate” of their songs “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and “Don Diablo” from 1979 and 1980 respectively. Dua Lip’s label Warner Music Group and others involved in the songwriting and production are also named as defendants.

Interestingly, the claimants point out that the opening melody of Levitating has been very successful on TikTok which they claim will have contributed to the song’s success. They state that “Because video creators frequently truncate the already brief snippets of sound on TikTok, the signature melody often comprises 50% or more of these viral videos.” It seems they are making this point to illustrate the importance of that melody in the song as a whole.

The songwriters’ lawyers complain that the defendants “have levitated away” their clients’ intellectual property and that they bring the action “so that the defendants cannot wiggle out of their wilful infringement”. Clips from the claimants’ songs are below.

Miguel Bose – Don Diablo (https://youtu.be/v3N444t7m0A?t=17)

Cory Daye – Wiggle and Giggle All Night (https://youtu.be/EsEXuWK7PZE?t=24)