Dua Lipa and Warner Music are being sued by producer Bosko Kante for using his talk-box recording in remixes of “Levitating.” In the lawsuit, Kante claims that he issued permission for his recording to be used in the original version of “Levitating,” which was released on October 1, 2020. However, he claims that the producers were not authorized to use the recording for any remixes of the track.
Videos by American Songwriter
Billboard recently released a statement that was written by Kante’s lawyers. “Plaintiff made numerous attempts to resolve this matter short of litigation, but such efforts were unsuccessful, due to the defendants’ unwillingness to cooperate or accept responsibility for this blatant infringement of plaintiff’s copyrights,” the statement reads.
RELATED: Shania Twain Wants to Collaborate with Dua Lipa
Kante founded his own company, ElectroSpit, in 2014, and was reportedly approached by “Levitating” producer Stephen Kozmeniuk that same year. Kante claims an oral agreement was made for himself to create a talk-box performance for “Levitating,” but he never gave permission for his recording to be used for subsequent remixes of the song featuring The Blessed Madonna and DaBaby.
“All three remixes sampled and incorporated a greater amount of plaintiff’s work than that used in the original version,” the statement continued. “Defendants did not seek or receive any authorization or permission to use the composition or sound recording of plaintiff’s work from plaintiff.”
This is not the first time that Dua Lipa has faced a lawsuit over “Levitating.” Reggae band Artikal Sound System filed a lawsuit against Lipa in March 2022, claiming that the track ripped off their 2017 song, “Live Your Life.” While there was little to no evidence showcasing how Lipa stole their song, the band claims the pop star had “access” to “Live Your Life,” according to Billboard. The case was temporarily dismissed in June of this year, and Artikal Sound System did not follow through with any further action.
Songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer also recently filed a lawsuit against Lipa, claiming she took the melody of their 1979 song “Wiggle and Giggle All Night,” as well as the 1980 track “Don Diablo.” The case has yet to go to court.
“The signature melody is the most listened to and recognizable part of the infringing works and plays a crucial role in their popularity,” the lawsuit reads. “Because video creators frequently truncate the already brief snippets of sound on TikTok, the signature melody often comprises fifty percent or more of these viral videos.”
Photo by Cindy Ord/MG23/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
