Copyright infringement lawsuit over Dua Lipa’s hit song levitate The case is set to continue after the artist and Warner Music Group (WMG) lost their case.
Producer and Talkbox Artist Bosco Canter Suing Lipa, WMG and producers Stephen Kozmeniuk (aka reason) last year, accused him of making recordings that were used on three remixes without his permission levitate.
Complaints require at least US$2 million Combined with interest on damages, and profits from the remix, it is estimated that at least US$20 million.
The lawsuit alleges that Kozmeniuk asked Kanter to record a talk box for levitateand they had reached a verbal agreement for the recording to appear on the song’s original album but not to use it for the remix.
Earlier this year, Lipa and the other defendants asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Kanter failed to specify which parts of his recordings were used in the remix and therefore failed the “substantial similarity” test required for copyright infringement claims. .
In a ruling issued on Monday (September 10), the judge Hernan D. Vera The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied the motion to dismiss and declared that Kanter did not require “forensic analysis of the sound files” at this stage of the trial.
“The court held that the plaintiff had sufficiently asserted a copyright infringement claim by alleging that “all or substantially all” of his copyrighted recordings – i.e. his actual Sound – used in the mix without his permission. This is sufficient,” Judge Vera wrote in his decision, which can be read in full here.
“Plaintiffs are not required to identify on a second-by-second basis which parts were used.”
The financial stakes in the case may be high because one of the song’s remixes features a rapper big baby – has become the most popular version of the song.
exist SpotifyDaBaby version has 2.145 billion flow, compared to 984 million Streaming of the album version. exist YoutubeDaBaby version has 902 million opinion, compared to 16 million The most popular video on the album version.
another version, virgin mary Remix Features Madonna and Missy Elliotthave 65 million On Spotify and 40 million Views on YouTube.
levitate is one of the hottest songs in recent years. Released in 2020 as a single from Dua Lipa’s second album, future nostalgiathe song broke the record for the longest-charting song by an American female artist Advertising billboard 100spent 77 weeks on the charts in 2020 and 2021.
Although the defendants suffered damages in the copyright claim dismissal, WMG successfully dismissed Kanter’s “accounting” claim against the music company under California law in a separate motion.
The claim would require Warner to disclose how much money it made from the project. levitate Remix so that Kanter can determine how much he will have to pay if he is to win the lawsuit.
Judge Vera dismissed that part of Canter’s case, ruling that federal copyright law preempted California law in this case because Canter could still claim an accounting under federal law.
“Plaintiffs are not required to identify on a second-by-second basis which parts were used.”
Judge Hernan D. Vera
This is not the first time levitate has been the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit. The song was the target of two copyright lawsuits in 2022.
In one case, a team named artificial sound system Claiming that Levitating is “substantially similar” to their own tracks, live your life.
Last year, the case was dismissed by a U.S. federal court judge, who ruled that Artikal Sound System failed to provide direct evidence of infringement or even circumstantial evidence, such as levitateof creators can “access” live your life.
In another case, the songwriter L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer Claimed Levitating infringed copyright on their 1979 song squirming and giggling all night.
The case survived a motion to dismiss last year, with a New York federal court judge ruling that the two tracks were “strikingly similar” enough to allow the case to proceed.global music business
