Dua Lipa faces yet another copyright infringement lawsuit over ‘Levitating,’ this time for the allegedly unauthorized use of a talk-box recording in three of the song’s remixes.
Dua Lipa is facing a new copyright infringement lawsuit over her hit track “Levitating, this time filed in Los Angeles by producer Bosko Kante, who also names her label Warner Music Group in his filing.
Kante asserts that while he authorized the use of his “talk box” recording in the original song, the use of his performance on three remixes of “Levitating” — including the most well-known featuring DaBaby — infringes on his copyright hinging on a proprietary wearable electronic device. The other two remixes cited include one by DJ The Blessed Madonna featuring pop singer Madonna and rapper Missy Elliott and another that Dua Lipa performed at the American Music Awards.
“Plaintiff made numerous attempts to resolve this matter short of litigation, but such efforts were unsuccessful due to Defendants’ unwillingness to cooperate or accept responsibility for this blatant infringement of Plaintiff’s copyrights,” states Kante’s legal team.
Kante created the ElectroSpit Talk Box, an electronic device worn around the neck and wired to a synthesizer or phone to make a user’s vocal vibrations sound like musical instruments. Kante’s website says he has played the device on songs by musicians including Big Boi, J. Cole, and Kanye West.
Bosko Kante’s lawsuit asserts that producer Stephen Kozmeniuk approached the producer in 2019 about creating a talk box track for use on “Levitating.” Kante says they verbally agreed to a licensing stipulation that his recording would only appear on the original song and was not to be sampled or reused. The lawsuit says he is entitled to more than $20 million in profit from the infringing remixes.
Dua Lipa has already faced two other copyright infringement lawsuits over “Levitating,” with a filing by songwriters Sandy Linzer and L. Russell Brown still ongoing. A separate filing by the Florida reggae group Artikal Sound System was dismissed in June.
