Olivia Dean Song Lawsuit: Bill Withers' 'Just the Two of Us' Allegation

A federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles alleges Olivia Dean's song "I've Seen It" is substantially similar to Bill Withers' Grammy-winning classic "Just the Two of Us." Mattie Music Group, which manages Withers' catalog, filed the copyright infringement suit, claiming the musical similarities are too striking to be coincidental.

The lawsuit names Capitol Records, Universal Music Group, Sony Publishing, and Kobalt Music Publishing America as defendants. These companies were notified of the suit in August. Dean and her co-writers, Basitan Langebæk and Max Wolfgang, are not named in the legal action.

Mattie Music Group must prove Dean's co-writers had prior access to Withers' song to demonstrate plagiarism. The suit does not seek damages from Dean or her co-writers, but asserts that the defendants continued to exploit the song after being notified of the alleged infringement.

Dean told W Magazine she wrote "I've Seen It" after drinking red wine, describing the song as an exploration of different forms of love. "I've Seen It" has accumulated approximately 248 million streams on Spotify, while "Just the Two of Us" has more than 948 million streams.