Sam Smith, Normani ‘Dancing With a Stranger’ Copyright Fight Likely Headed to Trial
Sam Smith and Normani are closer to facing a jury over their hit “Dancing With a Stranger” after a federal judge signaled Friday that he plans to reject their latest attempt to end a long-running copyright lawsuit before trial.
U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu said his tentative ruling is to deny the singers’ motion for summary judgment. A written decision has not yet been issued.
The lawsuit, filed in 2022, alleges the hook of Smith and Normani’s 2019 hit copied an earlier song written by Jordan Vincent and Christopher Miranda. Hsu dismissed the case in 2023, but an appeals court later revived it.
Smith and Normani again sought to end the case in July, arguing the plaintiffs cannot prove anyone involved in writing their song ever heard the earlier track.
That issue now raises the bar for the copyright claim. Vincent has abandoned an earlier argument that the 2015 song was distributed widely enough to establish access, leaving him to rely on a theory that the two works are “strikingly similar.”
Hsu indicated Friday that the dispute should not be resolved in Smith and Normani’s favor before trial.
The judge declined to exclude testimony from two experts supporting the copyright claim. Although he said he did not necessarily agree with their conclusions, he found enough analytical support for their opinions to remain in the case.
Smith and Normani’s attorney, Peter Anderson, argued that the similarities identified by the plaintiffs involve only a handful of musical elements commonly found in other songs.
Without evidence of access, the defense maintains the similarities would have to be strong enough to make independent creation virtually impossible. Anderson argued the musical features identified by Vincent fall well short of that standard.
The defense has also challenged whether parts of Vincent’s song are protected by copyright at all.
Smith and Normani’s attorneys claim the 2015 track incorporates unauthorized samples from Masters at Work’s “The Ha Dance” and Lyn Collins’ “Think (About It).” They argue those samples appear throughout the same hook Vincent claims was later copied.
Vincent’s attorney, Alfred J. Fluehr, countered that the disagreement over the songs and their musical elements is a factual dispute for jurors to decide.
Hsu appeared reluctant to resolve that question himself, indicating that competing arguments over the hook and the alleged samples should not end the case at the summary judgment stage.
The lawsuit has already reached the Ninth Circuit once. After Hsu previously ruled for Smith and Normani, the appeals court revived the claim, finding that a jury could consider whether the selection and arrangement of otherwise common musical elements in Vincent’s song was protected and whether the later track was sufficiently similar.
Smith and Normani have also pointed to earlier music in challenging the claim. Their attorneys have cited Cyndi Lauper’s 1989 “Dancing With a Stranger” and Regina’s 1997 “Dancing With an Angel” as examples of songs containing material they say resembles elements now disputed in the case.
Hsu took the motion under submission at the end of Friday’s hearing.
If his tentative ruling stands, Smith and Normani will remain headed toward a jury trial over whether “Dancing With a Stranger” unlawfully copied the earlier song.
