Florida Reggae Band Slaps Dua Lipa With Lawsuit Over ‘Levitating’
British singer Dua Lipa is now the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit, filed by South Florida-based Reggae band, Artikal Sound System, which has accused her of pirating a song of theirs and remaking it into her hit song Levitating with rapper DaBaby.
According to TMZ, Artikal has claimed that Dua siphoned off elements of their own Reggae song, Live Your Life which they had released back in 2017.
Dua, her label Warner Records, and others, have been named as co-defendants in the matter, and according to TMZ, Artikal is asking for damages and any profits they may have made off of Levitating. The song is now certified 4X Platinum in the United States, after spending 41 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 2.
The official music video has picked up over 475 million views on YouTube.
“This is a simple allegation of copyright infringement. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Artikal simply states … Dua and her team heard their earworm pre-2020 (when they started writing “Levitating”) and trotted out a carbon copy,” TMZ reported.
“There’s nothing laid out in their claim to explain why they believe that to be the case … but presumably, that’ll get hashed out in court as this thing plays out. We’ll say this … the two songs do sound awfully similar, especially the chorus. Different lyrics, obviously, but the beat comes across as damn near the same — and Artikal obviously felt strong enough about this to sue,” the publication added.
Comprising five members, Artikal was founded in 2012, and describes itself on its official YouTube channel as a Reggae band from Delray Beach, Florida which “blends roots and modern sounds under smooth female vocals” and puts its efforts towards “bringing love, good vibes and a dancing mood wherever they go”.
The band is made up of vocalist Logan Rex, bassist Fabian Acuña, guitarist Chris Montague drummer Adam Kampf and keyboardist Chris Cope.
Artikal released its first full-length album on February 1 this year.
Live Your Life itself was released on March 29, 2017 and was posted by the band on Soundcloud on that day.
Over the band’s Soundcloud page there has been a trickle of persons who apparently visited to check out the song, in order to make comparisons with Dua Lipa’s version.
“I’m levitating 😎”, blonde_gambino quipped.
“Dua made y’all famous,” Carlos added.
“Best collect those royalties!!” quirkymcjerk stated, while AlexMaxLive added: “Yaass dua get those lawsuits”.
On TMZ’s Instagram page, where the publication noted “one moment we were levitating and the next moment we were falling into a lawsuit”, followers who listened Artikal’s track, said that it was evident that Dua’s version was a carbon copy.
“TBH they’re not lying. If you listen to their song on SoundCloud, you’ll see why. She uses their words and beat. 🤷♀️ can’t be mad,” one woman said in response.
“I thought it was gonna be bs when I read the caption but she or whoever made her song 100% ripped off the Reggae band’s song Good luck Dua,” Zoey Teigen mocked, while Rachel Oas piped in: “Absolutely the same. Well at least they will get royalties”.
On Facebook, the responses were the same, as commenters said that there was no doubting the similarity between both songs.
“Oh O! Sounds the same to me. Cough up some cash Dua ,” Cindy Larson said.
Others like Jeff Weir said that he was not surprised that the song had been pirated.
“What else can you expect from all of those pop artists, hip hop, and rappers? They obviously can’t write their own music and lyrics they use samples and backing tracks,” he said.
On TMZ’s Twitter page, the verdict was the same.
Dua Lipa's hit song 'Levitating' is a carbon copy of one reggae band's 2017 song, so claims a new lawsuit. https://t.co/fdTb8y3wrO
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 1, 2022
“I was gonna write this off as money hungry bs at first but the chorus is way too similar for comfort. if they can prove dua or her writers heard the song before / during the development of levitating they’d def win and be entitled to a writing credit + payout. it’s blatant,” @chernobyldenier declared.
“Just listened to the reggae band’s song. Even a deaf person can hear that ripoff. She better settle cause she gonna lose 🤣,” an amused Milky X said.
“This is CRAZY it’s exactly the same like my jaw dropped at the vocoder voice in the reggae song,” britkneejeans pointed out.
There were some fans of Dua, who accused Artikal of trying to make money off of her. However, these were rebuked by hardcartier who said the quintet was simply standing up for their rights.
“Yy’all are trying to drag the band when all they’re doing is getting their just dues😭 levitating is literally a sped up version of their song,” he noted.
On Friday, Dua’s 2016 Reggae-Pop/R&B infused collab with Dancehall superstar Sean Paul, No Lie, was certified double platinum in the UK.