Dua Lipa wins ‘Levitating’ copyright case with a little help from Ed Sheeran
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How Ed Sheeran helped Dua Lipa win copyright lawsuit
- Dua Lipa has won a lawsuit that claimed her song “Levitating” copied the melody of a 1970s disco track.
- Songwriters L Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer sued Lipa in 2022, alleging “Levitating” infringed on the copyright of their songs “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” (1979) and “Don Diablo” (1980).
- Judge Katherine Polk Failla determined the shared musical phrase was generic and not protectable under copyright law, referencing similarities to melodies used in operas by Mozart, Rossini, and the Bee Gees.
- The judge cited Ed Sheeran’s 2023 victory in a similar case over his song “Thinking Out Loud”, which established that basic musical elements are generally not copyrightable.
- Brown and Linzer’s attorney plans to appeal the decision, which arrived five years after Lipa released her album Future Nostalgia, which featured “Levitating”.