English pop star Dua Lipa and her record label Warner Records Inc. are facing a lawsuit in California federal court from a Florida reggae group claiming her hit song “Levitating” infringed the copyright of their song.
Artikal Sound System alleged in its complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that Lipa and Warner Records “listened to and copied” the group’s 2017 song “Live Your Life.”
“Levitating” was released in 2020 and became 2021’s No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 Song of the Year.
Artikal Sound System said the album on which “Live Your Life” appeared topped out at No. 2 on the Billboard reggae charts. The complaint said the song was distributed on a variety of streaming services, including Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, and SoundCloud.
The group registered the song with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2017.
“‘Levitating’ is substantially similar to ‘Live Your Life,’” the complaint said. “Given the degree of similarity, it is highly unlikely that ‘Levitating’ was created independently from ‘Live Your Life.’”
Cause of Action: Copyright infringement.
Relief: Actual damages, costs of suit.
Response: A representative of Dua Lipa didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Attorneys: Law Offices of Robert Besser and Eisenberg, Hefler & Levy LLP represent Artikal Sound System.
The case is Cope v. Warner Records Inc., C.D. Cal., No. 2:22-cv-01384, 3/1/22.
To contact the reporter on this story:
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:
See Breaking News in Context
Bloomberg Law provides trusted coverage of current events enhanced with legal analysis.
Already a subscriber?
Log in to keep reading or access research tools and resources.