Dua Lipa has officially cleared her name in the copyright battle over Levitating. A U.S. District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit claiming that her chart-topping hit copied the melody of L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer’s 1979 disco track Wiggle and Giggle All Night.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled in a Manhattan court that Levitating did not bear enough resemblance to Wiggle and Giggle to warrant a trial. The lawsuit also alleged similarities with another song, Don Diablo, but the court rejected these claims. Failla cited prior rulings, including Ed Sheeran’s Marvin Gaye case, and pointed out that similar musical structures have existed in compositions dating back to Mozart and Rossini.
“The Court finds that a musical style, defined by Plaintiffs as ‘pop with a disco feel,’ and a musical function, defined by Plaintiffs to include ‘entertainment and dancing,’ cannot possibly be protectable,” Judge Failla wrote. The ruling emphasizes that common elements like descending scales and clave rhythms are fundamental building blocks of music and cannot be copyrighted.
Lipa’s attorney, Christine Lepera, welcomed the decision, stating, “We are very pleased with the summary judgment decision, and with the Court’s recognition that music building blocks exist and are accessible to all creators.” She had previously argued that Lipa and her co-writers had never heard Wiggle and Giggle or Don Diablo before writing Levitating.
Despite the ruling, attorney Jason Brown, representing Brown and Linzer, signaled an intent to appeal, arguing that modern copyright cases rely too heavily on written musical analysis rather than the emotional and experiential nature of music. “The soul of a song doesn’t live in a court brief. It lives in the sound, the feel, and the performance,” Brown told Rolling Stone.
This marks the second legal victory for Lipa over Levitating. In 2023, a judge dismissed another lawsuit from reggae group Artikal Sound System, who claimed the song copied their track Live Your Life.
As the debate over music copyright continues, this case sets another precedent for how courts define originality versus shared musical elements in pop music. Stay tuned to Hit-Channel.com for more updates on the biggest legal battles in the industry.