British pop star Dua Lipa has been hit with a lawsuit for allegedly ripping off a track from a band called Artikal Sound System to create her hit single, Levitation.
Released in 2020, Levitation was taken from Lipa’s album nostalgia for the future and has been streamed over 445 million times on Spotify alone, and has been viewed over 475 million times on YouTube.
Filed in California court on Tuesday, March 1, members of Artikal Sound System claim Levitating is “substantially similar” to their own song Live your life.
Warner Records is also named as a defendant, along with songwriters Sarah Hudson, Stephen Kozmeniuk, Bosco Kante and Clarence. Coffee, Jr.
Artikal Sound System says they have been performing and touring together since 2010 and their album featuring Live your life charted “on the Billboard charts at number 2 in the reggae section in 2017”.
their track Live your life was released via CD Baby in 2017 and has also been made available to streaming services including Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, Amazon and Sound Cloud.
In the five-page filing, which you can read in full here, Artikal Sound System claims that “in 2020, based on information and beliefs, the defendants listened to and copied Live your life before and while they were writing Levitation”.
“Given the degree of similarity, it is highly unlikely that Levitating was created independently of Live Your Life.”
Artikal sound system
They add : “Levitation is substantially similar to Live your life. Given the degree of similarity, it is highly unlikely that Levitation was created independently of Live your life.”
The band also provided what they say on file is a copy of the US Copyright Office certificate for their track. Live your life.
Artikal Sound System seeks compensation for the defendants’ actual profits and damages.
The case is the latest in a string of high-profile lawsuits against superstar artists in recent years.
In June 2021, American rap star NLE Choppa (real name Bryson Potts) was sued for copyright infringement over his track Make them say, released in August 2020 and taken from his album Top Shotta.
In May 2021, Childish Gambino was sued for copyright infringement on This is America.
In April, BTS and Big Hit (HYBE) were sued for copyright infringement over K-Pop reality show I-Land.
In August 2020, Kendrick Lamar was sued for copyright infringement by a musician called Terrance Hayes, over Lamar’s hit single Loyaltyreleased in 2017 and taken from his fourth album, Slim.
That same month, a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Lizzo (aka Melissa Jefferson) by three songwriters — Justin and Jeremiah Raisen and Justin ‘Yves’ Rothman — was dismissed by a California judge.
In July 2020, pop-punk band Yellowcard dropped their $15 million copyright lawsuit against Juice Wrld over the late artist’s hit single, Lucid dreams.
In June 2020, Travis Scott was charged with copyright infringement in a lawsuit filed by Blurred Lines attorney Richard Busch over his #1 US single, The highest in the room.
Meanwhile, in March 2020, a federal court in California overturned the verdict of the Black Horse copyright infringement lawsuit against Katy Perry – who allegedly saw her, Capitol Records and collaborators liable for $2.8 million.
Perry’s win followed Led Zeppelin’s victory over their long-running copyright battle over their classic 70s song Stairway to Heaven resulted in a huge win for the British rock band, as well as their publishing and record partner, Warner Music Group.
The lawsuit’s arrival this week follows news last month that Dua Lipa had parted ways with longtime manager Ben Mawson and management company Tap Management.
the Daily mail reported that Dua’s father, Dukagjin Lipa, will now take over the management duties of the global star.The music industry around the world
