Dua Lipa successfully dismisses ‘Levitating’ copyright lawsuit

Diane Adao

June 8, 2023

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  Dua Lipa and Warner Records convinced a federal court in Los Angeles to dismiss Artikal Sound System’s lawsuit, accusing Lipa’s hit song “Levitating” of copying their song. The court ruled that Artikal Sound System failed to provide evidence of access to their song “Live Your Life.” While the group can file a new complaint, their request to combine the case with another lawsuit was denied. Artikal Sound System’s attorney expressed disappointment, and Lipa’s representatives did not comment. “Levitating” had a notable run on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, spending 77 weeks and peaking at No. 2 in 2021.

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  The complaint, filed in 2022, alleged that the similarities in melodies, harmonies, and other elements between the two songs made it highly unlikely for “Levitating” to have been created independently. However, the court agreed with Dua Lipa’s argument that Artikal Sound System’s complaint failed to demonstrate that the defendants could have encountered their song before writing “Levitating.”

  Artikal Sound System claimed they performed “Live Your Life” at concerts, distributed it through streaming services, and sold hundreds of copies of a CD featuring the song. Nevertheless, the court determined that this evidence was insufficient to prove that the music had been widely disseminated enough for the “Levitating” songwriters to have heard and copied it.

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