Dua Lipa faces copyright lawsuit over 'Levitating'

In the ongoing legal saga over Dua Lipa's song "Levitating", the pop star is facing a new copyright lawsuit. The musician Bosko Kante has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, alleging that Dua Lipa and Warner Music Group used his "Talk Box" recording in remixes of the song without obtaining his permission.

This lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal challenges related to "Levitating". Previously, Dua Lipa faced two copyright infringement lawsuits, one from reggae group Artikal Sound System which was dismissed in June this year, while the other is still ongoing, brought by songwriters Sandy Linzer and L. Russell Brown.

In this particular case, Bosko Kante is the inventor of the Talk Box, a device that can transform vocal vibrations into musical instruments and which has been used by notable artists such as Kanye West, Big Boi and J. Cole.

Kante claims he and producers reached a verbal agreement when they signed the collaboration, whereby he would write and record the vocal lines with his device for the original song, making it clear that his work would not be reused at a later date. Under that premise, he argues that Dua Lipa reused his work without his permission to create remixes of “Levitating” such as the "Blessed Madonna Remix" that she recorded with DJ The Blessed Madonna, the famed singer Madonna and Missy Elliott; a second remix with rapper DaBaby; and, most recently, in Dua Lipa's performance during the American Music Awards.

The lawsuit alleges both copyright infringement and breach of a verbal agreement, and Kante is seeking $2 million in damages, plus $20 million in profits from the infringement. This case stands out from prior copyright disputes involving "Levitating" because Kante was acknowledged as a collaborator on the song, which leads to questions about the rights related to his contributions and how they were employed in the remixes.