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Olivia Dean Sued Over Alleged Melody Copying
Developing
In Short: Bill Withers's music publisher, Bleunig, claims that Dean's track 'copied in large and significant part' the 'distinctively protectable melody' of Withers's 1981 R&B classic 'Just the Two of Us,' which he co-wrote with Ralph MacDonald and William Salter.
British pop star Olivia Dean is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit over her song 'I’ve Seen It,' taken from her 2025 album 'The Art of Loving,' which won a Brit Award.
The lawsuit, filed in California, names Dean's record label Capitol Records, parent company Universal Music Group, and her publishing companies as defendants.
According to the complaint, a musicologist hired by Bleunig concluded that the two works share substantial similarities in protectable musical expression, with Dean's song repeatedly reproducing the earlier track's melodic structure.
Bleunig sent cease-and-desist letters to the defendants in August after completing its musicological analysis, but the parties continued to distribute and exploit Dean's song.
The lawsuit does not name Dean herself or her co-writers, Bastian Langebaek and Max Wolfgang, as defendants, though it alleges they had a reasonable opportunity to encounter Withers's song before writing 'I’ve Seen It.
The BBC has contacted the defendants and Dean's representatives for comment, but no response has been received as of yet.
What's confirmed
- The lawsuit seeks damages from Dean's publisher and record label, but not from the star herself British pop star Olivia Dean has been accused of copying the melody of Bill Withers' soul classic Just The Two of Us in a legal case filed in California.
- The complaint centres around Dean's song I've Seen It, taken from her Brit Award-winning 2025 album The Art of Loving.
- The lawsuit names Dean's record label Capitol Records, parent company Universal Music Group and her publishing companies as the defendants.
- The publishers claim they notified Dean's record label of the potential infringement in August, but the music was not pulled from distribution.
- To prove plagiarism, Mattie Music Group would have to prove that Dean and her co-writers had previously heard Withers' original composition.
- The BBC has contacted them, and Dean's representatives, for a comment.
What's still developing
- According to the complaint, Dean's track "copied in large and significant part" the "distinctively protectable melody" of Withers's song, which he co-wrote with Ralph MacDonald and William Salter while under contract with Bleunig.