Dua Lipa is being sued by a band who claim Levitating ‘rips them off’ – here’s all we know

Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia era is one of the most exemplary in a modern music era – a record that spawned hit after hit, excellent video after excellent video, consistent and well marketed and critically acclaimed. Of all the hits on an album of hits, it was Levitating the flew higher than the rest. Whether it was the solo version, the Blessed Madonna remix that had Missy Elliott and *that* Madonna on the mix or whether it was the megahit version with he who shall not be named – Levitating is one of the biggest songs of Dua’s career. With all three main versions streams combined, it’s her biggest song ever on Spotify at 2.2 million streams. Not ideal then, that Dua Lipa and Warner Records are now facing a lawsuit from a band claiming that the song that spent 41 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 (and 68 weeks altogether) is a ‘carbon copy rip off’ of a song they released in 2017. Here’s everything we know about the Dua Lipa Levitating lawsuit so far:

The claims

Artikal Sound System are a five piece reggae band that filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles court alleging that Levitating is a copy of their 2017 single Live Your Life. In the lawsuit, they name Dua Lipa, Warner Records and other involved parties all as defendants and are seeking any profits made on the song as well as damages. In the lawsuit, which Billboard claim is only short and with little explanation of how the alleged ripping off took place, just that the similarities are so large that it was “highly unlikely that Levitating was created independently.”

Here are the two songs side by side, so you can make your own mind up on their similarities:

Dua Lipa has said on The Journal podcast when discussing how Levitating came about: “Well, when we made Levitating,  we knew it was special because it just gave us a really great feeling. And it was also the song where I was like, ‘Okay, now I have an idea of what Future Nostalgia actually is.’ It was the first song that really helped me dictate what the other songs were going to sound like and things started to take shape once I had Levitating.”

Online reaction to the claims

Things like this happen quite often in pop music, and often it will be settled out of court for a sum and a writing credit added into a song. Twitter has been alive with discussion about how things will proceed for Dua Lipa and Levitating following the lawsuit. Many people have been sharing producer Stephen Kozmeniuk’s discussion on a podcast where he talks of how he came up with Levitating’s distinct funk:

Another has posted a mashup of the two:

Neither Dua Lipa nor Warner Records have publicly commented yet on the Levitating lawsuit allegations. The Tab spoke with Kirsten Gilbert from Marks and Clerk IP firm for an exclusive expert opinion on how the lawsuit will go down, and what the outcome could be. Kirsten explained the following: “If there is some merit to the claim, then ultimately musical experts will give evidence on the musical similarities in the songs and if the jury finds that Dua Lipa recording is a copy of the earlier track (even if that copying was unconscious on her part) then Artikal will be entitled to the damages and profits they seek. They could also stop Levitating from being played in the future.

“Often, unless a claim like this is thought to be completely hopeless, these disputes are settled out of court with the contribution of the earlier track being credited in the newer track and a split of future royalties being agreed. There will usually be some payment for past royalties too. This way the new track gets to live on and the original artist gets the recognition they deserve.”

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