Collaborator DaBaby has been dropped from a copyright infringement lawsuit surrounding “Levitate,’ leaving Dua Lipa on the hook.
Dua Lipa has been battling two separate lawsuits over the hit “Levitating,” which features DaBaby in a remixed version. Songwriters Sandy Linzer and L. Russell Brown filed a lawsuit in March 2022 alleging that the song copies the signature melody of their 1979 song, “Wiggle and Giggle All Night.” Separately, Florida group Artikal Sound System alleged that Dua Lipa copied from their song, “Live Your Life,” in a case that has now been dropped.
“Levitating” spent 77 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at the #2 spot in 2021.
In June 2023, a federal judge dismissed the Artikal Sound System lawsuit, questioning whether the London-born artist had accessed the allegedly infringing track. The group claimed it played the song “Live Your Life” at concerts, distributed it through streaming services, and sold several hundred copies on CD containing the song. Yet the federal judge said this was not enough to demonstrate the song was widely disseminated enough that the “Levitating” songwriters heard it, while leaving the door open to a reworked complaint. Following that action, however, the plaintiffs agreed to drop the suit entirely.
Now, all that remains is the March 2022 suit centering around the 1979 hit, “Wiggle and Giggle All Night,” recorded by Cory Daye. That suit remains active, though on July 7th, the plaintiffs filed a motion to drop defendant Johnathan Lyndale Kirk (rapper DaBaby) from the action only.
“Larball Publishing Company Inc. and Sandy Linzer Productions Inc. hereby give notice of the dismissal of all of their claims in this matter against defendant Jonathan Lyndale Kirk (aka DaBaby). For the avoidance of doubt, plaintiffs maintain and do not hereby dismiss their claims against any other defendant in this matter,” the filing reads.
The plaintiffs also moved to suggest that their dismissal of DaBaby from the lawsuit would moot the rapper’s action to seek dismissal of the lawsuit in its entirety.
It’s unclear why DaBaby was suddenly dropped, though collaborators can successfully wriggle out of lawsuits like these. That puts the glare on Dua Lipa and various co-defendants, who are now aiming to score a second major litigation victory tied to the track.
