The drama is unfolding
Real talk: when you release a hit, you want the only thing people to be obsessed with to be your vocals, not a lawsuit. Unfortunately for British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean, the plot thickens around her album The Art of Loving.
Mattie Music Group, which owns the catalog for the absolute legend Bill Withers, has officially filed a copyright lawsuit. They are claiming that Dean’s track "I’ve Seen It" is basically a copycat of Withers’ 1980 bop, "Just the Two of Us." The legal team for the publisher isn't mincing words, calling the similarities between the two tracks “obvious and inescapable.”
Who’s getting called out?
Before you go sliding into Dean’s DMs with shade, she isn’t actually named as a defendant in this case. The lawsuit is targeting the big wigs: Universal Music Group’s Capitol Records and Sony Music Publishing. Kobalt, which publishes Dean’s co-writer Max Wolfgang, is also in the crosshairs. So far, the labels and Dean’s camp have been quiet, and a rep for Kobalt declined to comment.
To make their case, Mattie Music Group brought in a musicologist named Alexander Stewart, who claims the songs share "distinctively protectable melody" elements. Basically, they are arguing that it’s highkey impossible for these songs to sound this alike just by coincidence.
Why it matters
"Just the Two of Us" is legendary status—it’s won a Grammy and recently went viral again on TikTok, so it lives rent-free in pretty much everyone's head. Meanwhile, The Art of Loving was a total breakout moment for Dean, who was named Billboard’s Rookie of the Year back in 2025. This legal battle is lowkey a massive deal for the industry, as it highlights how seriously publishers take protecting those iconic grooves from being "sampled" without the proper credit.
