Dua Lipa’s 2020 song “Levitating” has been the subject of three copyright infringement lawsuits. Two have been dismissed: a claim by the Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System was thrown out in June 2023, and a suit by veteran songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer was rejected on summary judgment in March 2025. A third case, filed by talkbox musician Bosko Kante over the song’s remixes, is still active.
Artikal Sound System’s Claim Was Dismissed in 2023
In March 2022, Artikal Sound System sued in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging “Levitating” copied the hook of their song “Live Your Life.” The case was filed as Cope v. Warner Records, Inc.1Billboard. Dua Lipa Levitating Copyright Lawsuit Dropped
On June 5, 2023, Judge Sunshine S. Sykes dismissed the case for failure to adequately plead copying. Under Ninth Circuit law, a plaintiff without direct evidence of copying must show the defendant had “access” to the earlier work. The band tried two theories. First, they argued their song had been widely disseminated. The court found that unpersuasive: the band had sold only “several hundred” physical copies, and mere availability on streaming platforms does not establish widespread dissemination.2CourtListener. Cope v. Warner Records Order
Second, they traced a chain of personal connections: a “Levitating” co-writer had worked with songwriter Ali Tamposi on another track from the same album; Tamposi had been taught guitar by the lead plaintiff’s brother-in-law; and Tamposi and the plaintiff were Facebook connections. Judge Sykes called those links “too generic or too insubstantial” and found they bore “little connection” to the actual compositions.2CourtListener. Cope v. Warner Records Order
The judge gave the band two weeks to refile, but they chose not to. Two days after the ruling, both sides filed a joint motion to dismiss the case with prejudice. No settlement or payment was involved.1Billboard. Dua Lipa Levitating Copyright Lawsuit Dropped
Brown and Linzer’s Case Was Rejected on Summary Judgment in 2025
Also in March 2022, songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer sued Lipa in the Southern District of New York, alleging that “Levitating” infringed their 1979 song “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and its 1980 counterpart “Don Diablo.” The case was captioned Larball Publishing Co. v. Lipa, No. 22-01872.3Variety. Dua Lipa Wins Levitating Copyright Lawsuit
The plaintiffs argued that the opening melody of “Levitating,” beginning “If you wanna run away with me, I know a galaxy and I can take you for a ride,” duplicated the signature melody of their earlier songs. They also pointed to statements in which Lipa said she had “deliberately emulated prior eras” to achieve a retro sound.3Variety. Dua Lipa Wins Levitating Copyright Lawsuit
On March 27, 2025, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla granted summary judgment for Lipa and her co-defendants. The court identified the primary shared musical element as a short descending scale followed by one additional matching note. Judge Failla called these “uncopyrightable building blocks” of music that do not become protectable simply because they appear together. She likewise found the plaintiffs’ broader claims about shared “patter style” vocals and rapid tempo insufficient, describing those features as “not uncommon” in pop and disco.4GW Law MCIR. Larball Publishing Co. v. Lipa
The court acknowledged that a casual listener might hear a resemblance, but held that perceived similarity is not enough when the shared elements are not protectable. Extending protection to such common features, Judge Failla wrote, “would be to completely foreclose the further development of music in that genre.”5Copyright Lately. What’s Up Spring Cleaning Edition
A central pillar of the ruling was the Second Circuit’s November 2024 decision in Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Sheeran, involving Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” That court held that a combination of a common four-chord progression and a syncopated harmonic rhythm was “too well-explored” to merit copyright protection, and warned that protecting such “musical building blocks” would grant an “impermissible monopoly” over the fundamental components of music.6Justia. Structured Asset Sales LLC v. Sheeran Judge Failla applied that framework and concluded that Brown and Linzer had failed to establish substantial similarity as a matter of law.3Variety. Dua Lipa Wins Levitating Copyright Lawsuit
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Jason T. Brown, said they intend to appeal.3Variety. Dua Lipa Wins Levitating Copyright Lawsuit
Bosko Kante’s Talkbox Lawsuit Is Still Pending
On July 31, 2023, producer and musician Bosko Kante filed a separate federal suit in the Central District of California, naming Dua Lipa and Warner Music Group as defendants. His theory is different from the other two. Kante does not claim the melody of “Levitating” was copied from an earlier song. He alleges that his own talkbox recording was reused in remixes of the track without authorization.7Billboard. Dua Lipa Sued Over Levitating Again
Kante is a Grammy-winning musician and inventor of the ElectroSpit talkbox. He performed on Lipa’s Future Nostalgia album.8MESA. Bosko Kante According to the complaint, an oral agreement allowed Lipa to use his talkbox performance on the original version of “Levitating,” but that agreement did not extend to remixes. He alleges that three remixes, including the version with DaBaby and the Blessed Madonna remix featuring Madonna and Missy Elliott, “sampled and incorporated a greater amount of plaintiff’s work than that used in the original version” without permission. The suit seeks $20 million in damages.9USA Today. Dua Lipa New Levitating Lawsuit Talk Box
Lipa’s team moved to dismiss. The court denied the motion as to the copyright infringement claim, ruling that Kante did not have to provide forensic analysis or identify exact portions of his recordings at the pleading stage. The judge did dismiss a separate claim for an accounting, finding it preempted by the Copyright Act. A second amended complaint was filed in March 2024. As of the most recent docket activity in late 2025, the case remains pending, with no settlement and no trial.10CourtListener. Bosko Kante v. Dua Lipa Docket
Why Courts Are Ruling This Way
The two dismissals reflect a shift in how federal courts are handling music copyright claims after the 2015 “Blurred Lines” verdict against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams. Critics argued that decision could make artists liable for evoking the feel of earlier music rather than copying specific, protectable expression.11The Independent. Dua Lipa Levitating Copyright Case Ed Sheeran
The Second Circuit’s 2024 Sheeran ruling pushed the other direction. It restricted the analysis of older works to what was actually deposited as sheet music and held that common chord progressions and harmonic rhythms cannot be monopolized.6Justia. Structured Asset Sales LLC v. Sheeran The “Levitating” summary judgment applied that logic, treating descending scales, fast tempos, and disco-influenced production as the shared vocabulary of a genre rather than any one songwriter’s property. A plaintiff must now identify specific, original expression that was copied, not just building blocks that many songs share. Whether the Brown and Linzer appeal, if pursued, tests that standard remains open. The Kante case, which turns on an alleged oral agreement about a sound recording rather than melodic similarity, sits on a different legal track and will likely be decided on its own terms.