Sam Smith and Normani face jury trial in copyright dispute

A federal judge in Los Angeles has denied a motion by Sam Smith and Normani to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit regarding their 2019 hit “Dancing With a Stranger.” The ruling by U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu means the case will proceed to a jury trial.

The lawsuit, originally filed in 2022, alleges that the song copied elements, specifically the hook and musical arrangement, from a 2015 song titled “Dancing With Strangers” by songwriters Jordan Vincent, Christopher Miranda, and Rosco Banlao. While a California federal judge initially dismissed the case in 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals revived it in April 2025, ruling that a jury could find the musical elements substantially similar.

In his ruling, Judge Hsu noted that the plaintiffs had introduced sufficient material facts regarding striking similarity and independent creation to preclude summary judgment. He rejected the defendants' argument to analyze musical elements like pitch, rhythm, and contour in isolation, stating that such a method would disassemble works to the point of losing resemblance. The defense had previously argued that the similarities involved commonplace musical elements and that there was no evidence the artists had accessed the earlier recording.