Sam Smith and Normani have asked a federal judge to throw out a copyright lawsuit that accuses their 2019 single Dancing With a Stranger of copying an earlier track with an almost identical name.
It is the second time Smith and the other co-defendants have tried to shut the case down before trial.
Lawyers for Smith, Normani, their co-writers and a group of companies that includes UMG Recordings, Sony Music Publishing and Downtown Music Publishing are seeking summary judgment, a ruling that would dispose of the claim without a trial.
Their request is set out in a joint brief filed on Tuesday (July 7) that also contains the plaintiff’s opposition. You can read the brief in full here.
The 2022 lawsuit was brought by Sound and Color, LLC, a company owned by songwriter Jordan Vincent and the production duo SKX.
It claims Dancing With a Stranger lifted its hook from Dancing With Strangers, a song Vincent co-wrote in 2015.
A California federal judge dismissed the case in 2023, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals revived it last year, ruling that a jury should decide whether the two hooks are substantially similar.
That sent the dispute into a second phase of discovery focused on whether Smith and their collaborators had actually copied Vincent.
During that process, Sound and Color dropped its claims that the songwriters had access to Dancing With Strangers — including an allegation that the track had been streamed more than 500,000 times before Smith’s song was written in 2018, plays the defendants say discovery showed were bot-generated.
That leaves Sound and Color relying on a single theory known as striking similarity, which the defendants describe as a far harder standard to meet.
“Plaintiff makes a last-ditch attempt to raise an inference of copying through the exacting doctrine of striking similarity,” lawyers from Davis Wright Tremaine wrote on behalf of the defendants.
Striking similarity requires Sound and Color to show it is “virtually impossible” the overlap arose by anything other than copying — a bar the brief says the plaintiff “does not come close to meeting.”
Lawyers for Smith and Normani say the resemblance comes down to a four-word phrase and some unprotected musical building blocks.
“The similarities amount to a four-word phrase, ‘dancing with a stranger’ — which has appeared in more than fifteen songs before Plaintiff’s song — and some unprotected pitches and rhythms in each song’s otherwise different melodies to which that phrase is sung,” Smith and Normani‘s lawyers wrote. “These similarities are not unique or so complex as to render coincidence virtually impossible.”
The brief points to prior songs using the phrase, including one recorded by Cyndi Lauper, and says the plaintiff’s own expert conceded that none of the copied elements are unique to Dancing With Strangers.
The brief raises a second, independent argument for dismissing Sound and Color‘s claim.
It says Dancing With Strangers itself contains two unlicensed samples — The Ha Dance by Masters at Work and Think (About It) by Lyn Collins — that run through the choruses containing the disputed hook.
“Discovery in this phase has also revealed another independent, fatal defect in Plaintiff’s claim,” the Davis Wright Tremaine lawyers wrote.
Because the samples were not licensed, they argue, Sound and Color cannot claim copyright protection over the sections of the song built on them.
“In fact, the allegedly copied ‘hook’ never occurs once in Plaintiff’s song without being accompanied by both unauthorized samples,” Smith‘s lawyers wrote.
Sound and Color, represented by AJ Fluehr of Francis Alexander LLC, argues in the same brief that the case belongs in front of a jury.
Sound and Color says its experts have shown the two hooks are “virtually identical” once the melodies are compared properly, sharing the same lyrics, a near-identical melodic contour and virtually the same rhythm.
“It is not an accident that this rare bit of expression appears in both songs in virtually identical aesthetic contexts for the first time in history a couple months apart; it is a fingerprint linking them,” the Sound and Color brief states.
Fluehr calls the sampling argument “frivolous,” saying the vocal melody and lyrics at the heart of the claim were written by Vincent and have nothing to do with the background production.
The plaintiff also points to Smith‘s past, noting that their 2014 song Stay With Me drew comparisons to Tom Petty‘s I Won’t Back Down and led to a settlement that added Petty as a writer.
Asked at a deposition how Petty‘s song had ended up in their own, Smith replied that there were “only so many notes on a piano,” according to the brief.
Sound and Color argues that explanation undercuts the claim of independent creation, and notes that even one of the defendants’ own experts rejected the reasoning.
“The notion that there’s only 88 notes on a keyboard is a worthless example that things are going to duplicate,” musicologist Ronald Sadoff testified, according to the brief.
The defendants dismiss the Petty comparison as “outlandish” and say a settled claim from more than a decade ago is not evidence of copying.
The dispute is one of several striking-similarity cases now before US federal courts.
On the same day the Smith brief was filed, NewJeans, their label ADOR and parent company HYBE were sued in the same California court over claims that their 2023 track ETA copied a combination of elements from an older dance track.
The revival of the Dancing With a Stranger case also cuts against a run of courtroom wins for defendants, among them Ed Sheeran, whose copyright battle over Thinking Out Loud ended when the US Supreme Court declined to revive the claim against him in 2025.
Judge Wesley L. Hsu is due to hear the motion on August 14 in Los Angeles, where he will decide whether to end the case or send it to trial.Music Business Worldwide
Sam Smith and Normani are seeking to dismiss a copyright lawsuit concerning their 2019 single « Dancing With a Stranger. » This action represents their second attempt to halt the case before it proceeds to trial. The lawsuit was initiated in 2022 by Sound and Color, LLC, which is owned by songwriter Jordan Vincent and the production duo SKX. They allege that « Dancing With a Stranger » copied elements from Vincent’s 2015 song « Dancing With Strangers. »
Initially, a California federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2023, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals later reinstated it, ruling that a jury should decide if the two songs’ hooks are substantially similar. This led to a second phase of discovery, focusing on whether Smith and his collaborators actually copied Vincent’s work. During this discovery, Sound and Color retracted its claims that the songwriters had access to « Dancing With Strangers, » including an allegation that it had been streamed over 500,000 times before Smith’s song was created in 2018. The defendants have argued that these plays were generated by bots.
As the case currently stands, Sound and Color relies on a theory known as « striking similarity, » which is much harder to prove. The defendants, represented by attorneys from Davis Wright Tremaine, argue that the plaintiff has not met the necessary burden of proof required to establish this claim. Striking similarity requires the plaintiff to demonstrate that it is « virtually impossible » for the similarities between the two works to have arisen from any source other than copying.
The defendants assert that the only notable similarity between the two songs is the four-word phrase « dancing with a stranger, » which has been used in numerous songs prior to Vincent’s track. Smith and Normani’s legal team highlights that these similarities are not unique or complex enough to suggest that copying is the only explanation. They cite previous songs featuring the phrase and note that even the plaintiff’s expert acknowledged that the elements in question are not exclusive to « Dancing With Strangers. »
Moreover, the defendants put forth a second argument for dismissing the claim: that « Dancing With Strangers » itself contains unauthorized samples, namely « The Ha Dance » by Masters at Work and « Think (About It) » by Lyn Collins. They contend that because these samples were not licensed, Sound and Color cannot claim copyright protection over the sections of the song that incorporate them. The lawyers argue that the disputed hook does not appear in Vincent’s song without being accompanied by these unlicensed samples, which further complicates their claim.
On the other hand, Sound and Color maintains that their experts have shown the hooks from the two songs to be « virtually identical » when analyzed correctly, sharing the same lyrics, melodic contour, and rhythm. They argue that the similarities are too precise to be coincidental, likening them to a « fingerprint » linking the two works.
Additionally, Sound and Color’s representation, AJ Fluehr, dismisses the defendants’ sampling argument as « frivolous, » asserting that the vocal melody and lyrics are original works by Vincent, separate from the background production. The plaintiff’s team also references past controversies involving Sam Smith, notably their 2014 song « Stay With Me, » which faced comparisons to Tom Petty’s « I Won’t Back Down, » culminating in a settlement that credited Petty as a co-writer.
At a deposition, Smith described the overlap between their songs as a result of the finite number of notes available on a piano, a statement that Sound and Color argues undermines claims of independent creation. However, one of the defendants’ experts, musicologist Ronald Sadoff, refuted this reasoning, stating that the idea of limited notes does not substantiate claims of originality.
The defendants have characterized the comparison to the Petty case as « outlandish » and emphasized that a settled claim from years prior does not support allegations of copying.
This case is one of several striking-similarity lawsuits currently in the U.S. federal courts. On the same day as Smith and Normani’s brief was filed, another lawsuit was launched against the K-pop group NewJeans over allegations that their 2023 track « ETA » copied elements from an earlier dance track.
The revival of the « Dancing With a Stranger » case stands in contrast to recent courtroom victories for defendants in copyright disputes, including Ed Sheeran, who successfully defended against a claim related to his song « Thinking Out Loud » in 2025 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
Judge Wesley L. Hsu is scheduled to hear the motion to dismiss on August 14 in Los Angeles, where he will determine whether the case will be dismissed or proceed to trial. The outcome of this legal battle could have significant implications for the music industry, particularly in how copyright claims involving alleged similarities are adjudicated.
