Jing Wen (Gr10) | STAFF REPORTER
Do the lyrics “Don’t start now” or “I’m levitating” ring any bells? All that belongs to Dua Lipa’s album Future Nostalgia that was released on March 27, 2020. As one of the first major pop stars to release a new album amidst quarantine, Lipa gained quick success with it and her songs have managed to leave a lasting impact on her listeners. Even with the delay of her tours due to the pandemic, her song Levitating has proved resilient and stayed on the Hot 100 chart for 70 weeks, becoming the longest-charting song by a women on said chart.
Lipa’s release of Future Nostalgia has allowed her to maintain a continuous promo cycle with performances on The Tonight Show and The Late Late Show, as well as constant streams of throwback content on her social media. This album was a highly-anticipated album from an artist whose debut made her a global star, so the risk Lipa and her team took to release a pop album during the pandemic was evident and the pressure was there. In the end, that leap of faith and her desire to release her music for the world paid off as we watched her album’s singles climb the Billboard charts.
Unfortunately, Lipa’s hit single Levitating has been faced with two copyright infringement lawsuits. She was originally sued by Artikal Sound System for allegedly plagiarizing their song Live Your Life that they had released in 2017. The second lawsuit was filed by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer who claimed that Lipa’s single violated the copyright of their song Wiggle and Giggle All Night.
In the music industry, lawsuits regarding copyright infringement isn’t new, but the process of proving copyright infringement is no walk in the park. Coincidental similarity in songs occurs often. The argument with these lawsuits aren’t about the sound or style, it’s about the composition and recording. This encompasses analyzing the notes, harmonies, underlying chords, and melodic content.
Regardless of Lipa’s current problems with her single, it’s clear that her songs have touched many people as they have related to them with their own experiences. Whether or not her inspiration for her song was influenced by other sources will be revealed eventually. Until then, turn on the radio, relax and listen to a tune.
