Olivia Dean faces copyright lawsuit over alleged similarities to Bill Withers' classic

Highlights

• Olivia Dean is facing a copyright lawsuit over her song I’ve Seen It
• Bill Withers’ music publisher alleges similarities with his 1981 classic Just The Two Of Us
• Dean herself has not been named as a defendant
• The lawsuit names Capitol Records, Universal Music Group and her publishing companies
• A musicologist reportedly found “substantial similarities” between the two songs

British singer Olivia Dean is facing a copyright lawsuit over her song I’ve Seen It, with the publishers of Bill Withers’ music alleging that its melody shares striking similarities with his 1981 classic Just The Two Of Us.

The case was filed in California and names Dean’s record label Capitol Records, Universal Music Group and her publishing companies as defendants. Dean herself and her co-writers Bastian Langebæk and Max Wolfgang are not named in the lawsuit.

What the lawsuit claims

Mattie Music Group, which manages Withers’ catalogue, alleges that I’ve Seen It contains musical features that are too similar to Just The Two Of Us to have occurred by coincidence.

The publisher said it hired a musicologist to compare the two songs. According to the legal documents, the expert concluded that they contain “substantial similarities”, including what the complaint describes as repeated copying of the melody from Withers’ song.

The publisher also claims it notified Dean’s record label about the alleged infringement in August, but I’ve Seen It was not removed from distribution.

To prove copyright infringement, the publisher would need to establish that Dean and her co-writers had previously heard Withers’ composition. The lawsuit points to the song’s long-running popularity and decades of radio play as evidence that the musicians had a reasonable opportunity to encounter it.

The defendants and Dean’s representatives have yet to respond publicly to the lawsuit.

The songs at the centre of the case

I’ve Seen It is the closing track on Dean’s 2025 album The Art of Loving. The acoustic ballad explores different forms of love, including the singer’s relationships with family, friends and strangers.

Dean previously told W Magazine that the song was written after she had “a lot of red wine”. She said she became emotional when she heard the finished song for the first time.

Just The Two Of Us, meanwhile, was recorded by Withers with saxophonist Grover Washington Jr and released under Washington’s name in 1981. It reached number two in the US charts and earned Withers a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.

Withers died in 2020.

Dean has gone on to become one of Britain’s biggest emerging pop stars. She won Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammy Awards, while The Art of Loving reached number one in the UK and was named Album of the Year at the Brit Awards.