REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File PhotoNEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Manhattan said the British pop star Dua Lipa must face a lawsuit accusing her of copying her 2021 megahit "Levitating" from a 1979 disco song.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2022, claimed that "Levitating" shared "compositional elements" with "Wiggle," most significantly by duplicating its opening melody.
Defense lawyers argued that it was implausible to believe that Lipa, 27, heard "Wiggle" before writing "Levitating."
Failla's opinion does not cover the plaintiffs' claim that "Levitating" copied another song, "Don Diablo," to which they owned a copyright.
The case is Larball Publishing Co et al v Lipa et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.
Persons:
Dua Lipa, Maja Smiejkowska, Katherine Polk Failla, L, Russell Brown, Sandy Linzer, Failla, Jason Brown, Don Diablo, Lipa, Bosko Kante, Jonathan Stempel, Leslie Adler
Organizations:
Dua, REUTERS, U.S, Warner Records, Larball, Court, Southern District of, Thomson
Locations:
London, Britain, Manhattan, British, Lipa, Los Angeles, Florida, U.S, Southern District, Southern District of New York, New York