Sam Smith, Normani Win Copyright Lawsuit Over 'Dancing With A Stranger'

Sam Smith and Normani have won a copyright lawsuit over their multi-platinum hit “Dancing With a Stranger.”

The copyright infringement suit, filed in March 2022 by songwriters Jordan Vincent, Christopher Miranda, and Rosco Banlaoi, had alleged Smith and Normani’s “Dancing With a Stranger” was stolen from a 2015 song by the same name.

The songwriters, who filed the complaint under the group name Sound and Color, LLC, had alleged that Smith and Normani unfairly enjoyed success with the song that allegedly ripped off the title, chorus and composition of their original, which was published on Vincent’s YouTube channel, Spotify, and other streaming services.

The superstar duo’s lawyers sought a rejection of the bulk of the copyright infringement lawsuit in September 2022.

Now, an order obtained by Rolling Stone says a California federal judge agreed to dismiss the case on Wednesday (September 6).

Judge Wesley L. Hsu, who reviewed the plaintiff’s claims that “lyrics, pitch sequence, melodic contour, metric placement of the syllables, rhythm, feel, and structure” represented musical elements that the defendants appropriated, ruled that “most if not all of the Plaintiff’s claimed similarities” were not protectable by law and pointed out that musical building blocks that belong to the public domain could not be protected.

The judge noted that there have been nearly 20 other songs mentioning the phrase “dancing with a stranger.”

(Photo: Steve Schofield)

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