If you’ve heard Olivia Dean‘s “I’ve Seen It” and thought of “Just the Two of Us,” the company behind Bill Withers‘ songs agrees with you.
Mattie Music Group, the publisher behind the late singer’s catalog, filed a copyright lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles, according to a report Thursday. It claims Dean’s song copies a “distinctively protectable melody” from the 1981 classic.
The suit calls the similarities “obvious and inescapable.” A musicologist who reviewed both songs found “substantial similarities,” according to the complaint.
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Dean Isn’t the One Being Sued
The suit names Capitol Records, Universal Music Group and Dean’s publishing companies. It doesn’t seek damages from Dean or from her co-writers on the song, Bastian Langebaek and Max Wolfgang.
The publisher says it warned them about the song on Aug. 17. They kept distributing and licensing it anyway, without changing its credits, the suit claims. It asks for damages to be decided at trial.
Representatives for Universal and for Dean didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, per the report.
Related: 1971 Soul Hit, Written by Bill Withers, Is One of the ‘Most Covered Songs of All Time’ 55 Years Later
The Song at the Center of It
“I’ve Seen It” is on The Art of Loving, Dean’s second album, which came out last year. The album’s hit singles include “Man I Need” and “So Easy (To Fall in Love).”
“Just the Two of Us” was a collaboration between Withers and saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. It won the Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1982 and was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, the Recording Academy notes.
Withers died in 2020 at 81.
Dean won Best New Artist at the Grammys in February. Withers was up for the same award in 1972.
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