British breakout star Olivia Dean is at the center of a high-profile copyright fight after a music publisher filed a federal lawsuit claiming her hit song 'I've Seen It' copies the distinctive melody of Bill Withers' 1981 classic 'Just the Two of Us.'
Mattie Music Group filed the copyright infringement lawsuit in California federal court on October 1, according to reports. The complaint names Capitol Records, Universal Music Group, Sony Publishing, and Kobalt Music Publishing America as defendants — but in a notable twist, Olivia Dean herself is not listed as a defendant, nor are her co-writers Bastian Langebaek and Max Wolfgang. Instead, the publisher has targeted the record labels and music companies connected to the track.
The complaint alleges that 'I've Seen It' copies the distinctive melody of the Withers song. Mattie Music Group hired musicologist Alexander Stewart to compare the two tracks, and according to the filing, Stewart identified 'substantial similarities' in what the publisher considers protected musical expression, pointing to repeated similarities between the melodies.
The publisher claims it alerted the defendants to the alleged infringement back in August, but says the companies continued distributing, licensing, and commercially exploiting 'I've Seen It' afterward. Mattie Music Group is seeking damages, a share of profits connected to the track, and an injunction against further alleged infringement.
'I've Seen It' appears on Dean's 2025 album 'The Art of Loving,' which helped cement her as one of the biggest breakout artists of the past year. Earlier this year, Dean won four trophies at the BRIT Awards, including Album of the Year — a haul that made the copyright fight land at a particularly awkward moment for one of pop's fastest-rising stars.
'Just the Two of Us,' recorded by Grover Washington Jr. featuring Bill Withers, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981 and later won the Grammy for Best R&B Song. Its warm, instantly recognizable melody has made it one of the most enduring soul songs of its era — and, if the publisher is right, a tempting target for borrowing.
For now, Mattie Music Group's claims remain allegations. No court has ruled that 'I've Seen It' infringes on 'Just the Two of Us,' and copyright cases in music often turn on fine-grained musicological analysis that can take years to resolve. The music industry has seen a wave of such disputes in recent years, from the 'Blurred Lines' verdict to fights over interpolation and sampling, and the outcome here could carry implications well beyond Dean's own catalog. The defendants have not yet publicly responded in detail to the filing.