Judge Rules Sam Smith Hit Can Go To Trial

A federal judge in Los Angeles has denied a motion to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit against Sam Smith and Normani concerning their multi-platinum song 'Dancing With A Stranger.' U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu ruled on Wednesday that the plaintiffs have presented sufficient evidence of striking similarity and potential copying to warrant a trial.

The lawsuit, originally filed in March 2022, alleges that the 2019 hit song's hook was stolen from a 2015 song also titled 'Dancing With a Stranger.' Lawyers for Smith and Normani had argued that the plaintiffs' experts failed to demonstrate the required "striking similarity" between the two works. However, Judge Hsu disagreed, stating that analyzing musical elements in isolation is improper and that the question of independent creation should be decided by a jury.

The judge also found a dispute of material fact regarding the defendants' claim that the plaintiffs' 2015 song incorporated unauthorized samples, thus forfeiting copyright protection. The court determined that the defendants did not sufficiently establish that the plaintiffs' work was derived from alleged unauthorized samples. The lead lawyer for the plaintiffs expressed gratification that a jury will now decide the musicological issues.

Questions regarding prior musical works have been a persistent issue in this long-running litigation. Notably, Cyndi Lauper recorded a song with the same title in 1989, and the Eurobeat artist Regina released 'Dancing With an Angel' in 1997, which featured a descending melodic phrase similar to the disputed passages.