Olivia Dean’s ‘I’ve Seen It’ copied melody of Bill Withers classic ‘Just the Two of Us,’ lawsuit alleges
Bill Withers and Olivia Dean.GettyShareAdd NBC News to GoogleOct. 5, 2026, 9:44 AM EDTBy Minyvonne BurkeOlivia Dean is accused of copying the melody of Bill Withers’ Grammy-winning hit song “Just the Two of Us” for the closing track of her latest album.
A lawsuit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that Dean’s “I’ve Seen It” copies “in large and significant part” Withers’ song. Mattie Music Group, which controls Withers’ catalog, says in the suit that it used a musicologist who compared the two songs and found “substantial similarities.”
The defendants — Capitol Records, Universal Music Group, Sony Publishing, and Kobalt Music Publishing America — were notified in writing in August of the infringement, the lawsuit says.
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“Despite receiving notice, defendants continued reproducing, distributing, licensing, publicly performing, and commercially exploiting the infringing work,” the suit states.
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Mattie Music Group says in the lawsuit that because of the song’s success and “decades of radio play,” the defendants had a reasonable opportunity to hear the song before creating “I’ve Seen It.”
“I’ve Seen It” is featured on Dean’s album “The Art of Loving,” which won her Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in February.
Minyvonne Burke is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News.
