Issue No. 061 · Story 01 · October 2, 2026

Bill Withers' Publisher Sues Over Olivia Dean Song

Mattie Music Group, the publisher of Bill Withers' catalog, filed a federal copyright lawsuit over Olivia Dean's I've Seen It. The complaint alleges that the song copies protected melody from Just the Two of Us and names Capitol Records, Universal Music Group, Sony, and Kobalt entities as defendants. Dean and her co-writers are not defendants.

§The complaint was filed October 1 in the Central District of California and concerns the underlying musical composition, not ownership of the Withers recording.
§Mattie alleges that a musicologist identified substantial similarities in protected expression and that the defendants continued exploiting the song after an August 17 notice.
§The publisher seeks an injunction, damages, and profits attributable to the alleged infringement. The court has not decided the merits.

THE TAKEAWAY

The Olivia Dean dispute targets the companies distributing and licensing the song, not the artist or her co-writers. The complaint separates the musical composition from the recording and seeks relief from both label and publishing defendants.

Source: Music Business Worldwide

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