Here we go, folks, hold onto your seats for a legal rollercoaster ride! In a shocking plot twist, Dua Lipa’s monstrous, multi-billion-streamed single, “Levitating,” got a smackdown by a legal gavel. Just like a plot from a daytime soap opera, a lawsuit alleged that Dua Lipa, the modern queen of pop herself, plucked some notes from the lesser-known Artikal Sound System’s work for her intergalactic hit!
Back when the calendar pages flipped to March 2022, the Sunshine State’s very own Artikal Sound System went all guns blazing against Dua Lipa, alleging she shoplifted their creativity to whip up “Levitating.” Fast-forward a few heartbeats, and the legal eagle in the robe, Judge Sunshine Sykes, swatted away the complaint like a pesky fly.
Now, the plaintiff’s legal opera centered around a melodious tale. They spun a yarn of Lipa and her cohorts at Warner Records, along with Clarence Coffee Jr., Sarah Hudson, and Stephen Kozmeniuk (the last one pulling double duty as a producer too), borrowing a few threads from 2017’s “Live Your Life.” The song in question served as the alleged inspiration behind Lipa’s hit, now a Spotify sensation with a mind-boggling two billion streams.
Our Florida band, in their sun-soaked bravado, insists that their tunes filled the air at several Floridian venues before “Levitating” took flight in late August 2018. Each gig featured the band belting out “Live Your Life,” which, coupled with media coverage, festival spots, and streaming availability, essentially handed the defendants the creative keys, according to Artikal Sound.
To thicken the plot, Artikal Sound pointed to a seemingly innocent social connection, like a breadcrumb trail leading to the ‘Scene of the Crime.’ Chris Cope of Artikal Sound and songwriter Ali Tamposi, who co-wrote “Break My Heart” from Dua Lipa’s ‘Future Nostalgia,’ are Facebook friends. They even share a guitar tutor!
Despite their well-laid accusations, however, Judge Sunshine Sykes decided to flip the script. The court lambasted their arguments regarding the defendants’ exposure to “Live Your Life” as too fluffy and wishy-washy. Whether the song played live, on a CD, or streamed, the court found the arguments “as unsatisfying as a drumstick without the chicken.”
As for the casual online friendship between Cope and Tamposi? The court dismissed it as bearing “as much relevance as a chocolate teapot” in the lawsuit. It neither proved any substantial connection between the two songs nor indicated any potential encounter between the defendants and the plaintiff’s song.
And as if things couldn’t get more dramatic, the court rejected the defendants’ plea to move the entire charade to New York, where Lipa is already juggling a separate legal hot potato, courtesy of Larball Music Publishing. The Florida-based Artikal Sound has been given until June 16th to brush up their complaint for another round in the legal ring, while the defendants must whip up their counterarguments by the 30th.
While Dua Lipa’s legal tango unravels, the copyright wars continue unabated elsewhere. The family of Ed Townsend, the co-writer of “Let’s Get It On,” is contesting a verdict involving Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” Meanwhile, 50 Cent finds himself in the legal crosshairs over his work on the catchy “Candy Shop.” Well, that’s all folks! Stay tuned for the next episode in this never-ending copyright soap opera!
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