THE BIG STORY: If you wish to predict the music trade’s subsequent large copyright lawsuit, look no additional than the YouTube feedback.
Many months in the past, when Olivia Dean’s “I’ve Seen It” hit the video web site, quite a lot of commenters stated they heard one thing they’d heard earlier than: “The refrain jogs my memory lots like ‘simply the 2 of us,’” one wrote. “I can’t assist enthusiastic about ‘Simply the 2 of us’,” one other added. “Sturdy ‘Simply The Two Of Us’ vibes,” yet one more listener stated.
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It seems they weren’t the one ones to listen to it.
A brand new lawsuit final week, first reported by Billboard, claims Dean’s tune stole key parts from the enduring 1980 tune “Simply the Two of Us” by Invoice Withers. Filed by the late singer’s writer in opposition to Dean’s label (Capitol Data) and writer (Sony Music Publishing), the case claims the overlap between the 2 songs is “apparent and inescapable.”
The lawsuit is an enormous deal as a result of Olivia Dean is an enormous deal — a real breakout over the previous two years behind smash singles “Man I Want” and “So Simple (To Fall in Love)” off a success album, The Artwork of Loving, that’s spent 52 weeks and relying on the Billboard 200. And he or she’s not accused of borrowing from some unknown tune — “Simply the Two of Us” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 and has appeared in numerous films, adverts and TikToks over time.
Do they actually sound so alike? Go pay attention for your self right here. And for extra on the lawsuit, together with entry to the precise grievance filed in court docket, go learn our full story right here.
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Different high tales this week…
-Michael Smith, a North Carolina musician who used AI songs to steal $8 million in royalties, was sentenced to 18 months in jail in a first-ever felony case over streaming fraud.
-A lawsuit in opposition to distributor SRG/ILS Group over royalties to Erica Campbell’s newest gospel album rapidly led to a settlement, lower than a month after it was filed.
–Oasis filed a lawsuit in opposition to its longtime former sound engineer Huw Richards to dam his looming public sale of a trove of unheard recordings valued at greater than $2 million. And it labored.
-A carefully watched listening to within the authorized battle between Dolly Parton’s property and the late singer’s nephew was pushed again two weeks to present the person extra time to rent attorneys.
–The Recreation sued Common Music Group over claims that it didn’t correctly promote his 2022 album Drillmatic — Coronary heart vs. Thoughts, inflicting the file to undergo “diminished industrial efficiency.”
-Every week after Jay-Z’s rape accuser recanted her accusations, a California appeals court docket refused to rehear his case in opposition to the attorneys who filed it — however cleared the best way for a decrease court docket to take action.
–FKA Twigs moved to finish her lawsuit in opposition to Shia LaBeouf after she stated the actor agreed to void a non-disclosure settlement she claimed was unlawful.
-The Mechanical Licensing Collective’s lawsuit in opposition to Pandora is headed to a jury trial after a choose stated he didn’t have the time to sift by way of “corpulent” case file of greater than 7,000 pages.
–Lil Durk might have been acquitted of ordering rival Quando Rondo’s homicide, however he’s nonetheless going through a second trial, on a racketeering cost, that’s now scheduled for subsequent summer time.
-Techno star Sara Landry sued her former administration firm The Night time Division over claims that it saved utilizing her title even after she fired the agency final 12 months for “betraying” her belief.
-Sean “Diddy” Combs was ordered to repay $478,000 in authorized payments incurred by NBC in defeating the mogul’s unsuccessful defamation lawsuit over a 2025 Peacock documentary.
-An Austrian choose dominated that one of many males convicted of planning a foiled terrorist assault at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour cease in Vienna can not sue Disney for displaying his dwelling in a docuseries concerning the tour.
-A former housekeeper mauled by a 200-pound canine at Chris Brown’s home accepted a decreased $9.5 million verdict — down from the unique $13 million — relatively than danger a brand new jury trial.
-The New York legal professional common sued the organizers of an upstate EDM competition over accusations they “didn’t concern a single refund to customers” after canceling the occasion as a result of a allowing dispute.
