Dua Lipa faces third copyright lawsuit over Levitating

Hollywood singer Dua Lipa is in trouble for her song Levitating. The popstar is currently facing a new federal lawsuit in Los Angeles from musician Bosko Kante who claims that Lipa and her music label Warner Music Group (WMG.O) did not seek his permission to include his “talk box” recording in remixes of Levitating.

In the lawsuit, Kante said that the use of his performance on three remixes of Lipa’s hit song infringed his copyright. He also cited an oral agreement that the part he produced with the wearable electronic device be used only in the song’s original recording.

Kante's ElectroSpit Talk Box is a device worn around the neck and wired to a phone or synthesizer that can make vocal vibrations sound like musical instruments. 

The lawsuit filed on Monday said Kante is entitled to more than $20 million in profit from the infringing music. It also says that the British-Albanian star reused the work without permission on further releases, including The Blessed Madonna remix — featuring Madonna and Missy Elliott — another remix featuring DaBaby and a performance by Dua Lipa at the American Music Awards (AMAs).

The lawsuit stated that producer Stephen Kozmeniuk approached Kante in 2019 about creating a talk-box track to use on Levitating. Kante verbally that his recording would only appear on the original track and could not be sampled or reused.

Lipa already faced two other copyright from reggae group Artikal Sound System, which were dismissed in June, and another by songwriters Sandy Linzer and L. Russell Brown which is currently ongoing.