Bill Withers’ Publisher Files Copyright Suit Over Olivia Dean’s ‘I’ve Seen It’
Olivia Dean’s “I’ve Seen It” is at the center of a copyright lawsuit from the publisher of late R&B great Bill Withers, according to multiple reports. On Thursday (Oct. 1),…
Olivia Dean’s “I’ve Seen It” is at the center of a copyright lawsuit from the publisher of late R&B great Bill Withers, according to multiple reports.
On Thursday (Oct. 1), Bleunig Music filed suit in Manhattan federal court against Dean’s label Capitol Records, its parent company Universal Music Group, and several publishing companies. Bleunig claims that “I’ve Seen It” copies the 1980 song “Just the Two of Us,” which was co-written by Withers, “in large and significant part,” including by biting the song’s melody.
The Lawsuit Centers on the Song’s Melody
“Just the Two of Us,” by saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. with lead vocals by Withers, was released on Washington’s 1980 LP Winelight. The song was released as a single in early 1981 and peaked at no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 that May.
The song has also remained familiar to rap fans over the years. Will Smith released his own “Just the Two of Us” in 1997, which both samples and interpolates Withers’ track.
According to Bleunig’s complaint, the company discovered Dean’s song this summer and hired a musicologist to compare the two recordings. The musicologist “concluded that the works contain substantial similarities in protectable musical expression, including repeated copying of the distinctively protectable melody.”
What Withers’ Publisher Wants
Bleunig is seeking an injunction restraining the defendants from further infringing its copyright, along with all profits derived from Dean’s song.
The lawsuit also has a direct connection to Withers. The singer and songwriter originally founded Bleunig in 1978, more than four decades before his death in 2020.
The case will now determine whether the similarities identified by Bleunig amount to copyright infringement.
