Sam Smith & Normani Must Face Trial in ‘Dancing With a Stranger’ Lawsuit: ‘For the Jury to Decide’
Refusing to dismiss a four-year lawsuit over the hit track, a judge set the stage for a rare courtroom showdown in a blockbuster song-theft case.
A judge rules that Sam Smith and Normani must undergo a trial to determine whether their 2019 hit "Dancing With a Stranger" infringed on an earlier song by Jordan Vincent. The judge, Wesley L. Hsu, refuses to dismiss the long-running copyright case, stating that the issue of independent creation should be left for the jury to decide.
This unusual trial sets the stage for a high-profile courtroom showdown similar to other well-known cases involving song theft allegations. The song in question, "Dancing With a Stranger," reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it one of Smith's biggest hits and Normani's peak spot on the chart. Despite previous attempts to dismiss the case, the accusers were forced to prove that the two songs were strikingly similar to each other.
Written by urgent.news from Billboard's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
