Olivia Dean has been accused of plagiarizing the Bill Withers classic Just the Two of Us.
The owners of Withers’ back catalogue aimed that allegation at his fellow Grammy winner in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed on Thursday in US federal court in Los Angeles.
Mattie Music Group contended that Dean’s track I’ve Seen It stole “substantial” aspects of Withers’ ۱۹۸۱ collaboration with Grover Washington Jr, which ascended to No ۲ on Billboard’s Hot ۱۰۰ before enjoying a comeback much more recently on the TikTok social media platform.
“In early August ۲۰۲۶, upon listening several times to I’ve Seen It, representatives of plaintiff came to what they considered to be the obvious and inescapable conclusion that I’ve Seen It copied in large and significant part [Just the Two of Us], including without limitation repeated copying of the distinctively protectable melody, and clearly infringed plaintiff’s copyrights in and to the original work,” Mattie’s lawsuit said.
Mattie’s lawsuit recounted how the group hired musicologist Alexander Stewart to analyze I’ve Seen It and compare it to Just the Two of Us. Stewart “concluded that the works contain substantial similarities in protectable musical expression”, according to the plaintiff.
“The number, character, and arrangement of the shared musical features are so striking that they support an inference that the similarities did not result from coincidence, independent creation or reliance on common musical elements,” Mattie’s lawsuit continued.
The lawsuit does not list as defendants Dean or her I’ve Seen It collaborators, Bastian Langbaek and Max Wolfgang, but alleges the three “had a reasonable opportunity to encounter the original work before creating I’ve Seen It”, the last track on Dean’s ۲۰۲۵ album The Art of Loving.
Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Group’s Capitol Records – Dean’s publisher and record label, respectively – were named as defendants by Mattie. So was Kobalt Music Publishing America, Wolfgang’s publisher.
Mattie’s lawsuit added the plaintiff provided “written notice to each defendant identifying the registration, the accused composition and the material musical similarities” on ۱۷ August. But, the lawsuit said, “defendants continued reproducing, distributing, licensing, publicly performing and commercially exploiting” I’ve Seen It.
Beside damages, the lawsuit said it seeks an injunction that permanently would “restrain further ongoing acts of copyright infringement by [the] defendants”.
Representatives for Dean, Capitol Records and Kobalt did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Guardian on Friday. Billboard reported that a Kobalt representative declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Dean, ۲۷, won the Grammy award for best new artist in February. The London native has also won four Brit awards, including for album of the year with The Art of Loving. Furthermore, on ۳۱ July, Dean and Sam Fender’s Rein Me In became the longest-running No ۱ single in UK history.
Withers, meanwhile, was a three-time Grammy winner originally from Slab Fork, West Virginia. His and Washington’s Just the Two of Us won the ۱۹۸۱ Grammy for best R&B song.
Mattie Music Group administers Withers’ estate after his death in Los Angeles at age ۸۱ in March ۲۰۲۰. It is named after the crooner’s late mother, Mattie, and run by his widow, Marcia Johnson.
