The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a copyright infringement lawsuit against Sam Smith and Normani regarding their 2019 hit "Dancing With a Stranger," overturning a lower court's dismissal of the case.

Sound and Color, representing Jordan Vincent and SKX's 2015 song "Dancing With Strangers," claims substantial similarities between the two songs. The lawsuit alleges matching elements in title, lyrics, melody, and production.

Key points of the case:

• The appeals court determined a jury could find the hooks "substantially similar"
• Both songs allegedly share identical lyrics and similar melodic arrangements
• When played at the same tempo, the similarities become more apparent
• The hooks share matching musical elements, including metric placement and melodic contour

The court emphasized the lack of a clear standard for evaluating song arrangement similarities in copyright infringement cases. This revival comes amid a changing landscape for music copyright cases, with recent high-profile cases like Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" and "Thinking Out Loud" favoring defendants.

The case will now return to a California federal judge for reconsideration, with the possibility of proceeding to a jury trial. This decision highlights the increasing complexity of music copyright cases and their tendency to require jury evaluation due to nuanced similarities between works.

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