However, it was also shopped around the music industry and – the lawsuit claims – may well have reached Normani’s people via that process. Vincent’s ‘Dancing With A Stranger’ was uploaded to SoundCloud in 2016, and then to YouTube and all the streaming services in 2017. Of course, song theft cases of this kind also need an explanation for how the creators of the latter track might have heard the earlier work. “When the extraordinary musical similarity between the songs is also factored in, it becomes even more apparent that it is impossible that the infringing composition and sound recording were independently created”, the lawsuit then argues. “A girl dancing alone is not an obvious visual theme for a music video titled ‘Dancing With A Stranger’, tending to dispel any notion that this similarity is a coincidence”. “Both videos consist of a girl performing interpretive dance alone in a minimalist studio”, the lawsuit notes, the dancing being interspersed with shots of each track’s main vocalist. Not only are the two tracks “strikingly similar”, according to the plaintiffs, but the video for the Smith/Normani hit is seemed heavily influenced by the video for Vincent’s track too. This is a further indication that plaintiff’s song was copied by defendants and that they are substantially similar”. “Tellingly”, it adds, “when plaintiff’s song is slowed down from 122 BPM to the 103 BPM used by the infringing song, the key of the two songs match. “It is a common practice in music production to take a reference track and speed it up or slow it down”, the lawsuit explains, adding: “This results in a natural pitch shift which places it in a different key more suited to a particular singer”. “The protected expression in both the infringing song and plaintiff’s pre-existing work is nearly identical and is strikingly similar”.Īnd they are even more strikingly similar if you tweak the Smith/Normani track so that it’s at the same BPM as Vincent’s record. “It is beyond any real doubt that Smith, Normani and the other defendants copied plaintiff’s work”, the lawsuit goes on. “In both songs, the title, hook, chorus, lyrics, and musical composition are all the same – and are repeated throughout the song giving both songs their identities”. “The hook/chorus in both songs – the most significant part and artistic aspect of these works – contains the lyrics ‘dancing with a stranger’ being sung over a nearly identical melody and musical composition”, a lawsuit filed with the Californian courts states. And, they all claim, the Smith/Normani song shares a lot more with their work than merely a title. The earlier track was a collaboration between artist Jordan Vincent and producer Christopher Miranda, the latter part of production duo SKX with Rosco Banlaoi. They are accused of ripping off an earlier track called, well, ‘Dancing With A Stranger’.
Sam Smith and Normani have been sued for copyright infringement over their 2019 hit ‘Dancing With A Stranger’. It’s definitely the season for song-theft litigation. J.Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers Legal Sam Smith and Normani accused of song-theft over Dancing With A Stranger By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 8 March 2022.Ed Sheeran | Lyrics Meaning Revealed March 15, 2022 Justin Bieber | Lyrics Meaning Revealed March 15, 2022 Noa – GONE | Lyrics Meaning Revealed March 16, 2022.Madonna vs Sickick – Frozen (Fireboy DML Remix) | Lyrics Meaning Revealed March 16, 2022.6 Impressive Health Benefits of Music March 17, 2022.Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) | Lyrics Meaning Revealed March 18, 2022.
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