Mattie Music Group, which oversees Bill Withers’ catalogue, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against multiple defendants on Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles. The suit alleges that Olivia Dean’s song I’ve Seen It, from her 2025 album The Art of Loving, copied significant portions of Withers’ 1981 collaboration with Grover Washington Jr., which reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and experienced renewed popularity on TikTok in recent times.
According to Mattie’s filing, representatives of the group identified what they described as “obvious and inescapable” similarities after listening to I’ve Seen It multiple times in early August. The plaintiff engaged musicologist Alexander Stewart to conduct a comparative analysis of both compositions. Stewart concluded that the works contained substantial similarities in protectable musical expression, with the number and arrangement of shared musical features being “so striking” as to suggest the likenesses did not result from coincidence or independent creation.
While Dean and her collaborators Bastian Langbaek and Max Wolfgang were not named as direct defendants, the lawsuit alleged they had reasonable opportunity to encounter Withers’ original work before creating I’ve Seen It. The actual defendants named were Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Group’s Capitol Records—Dean’s publisher and record label—and Kobalt Music Publishing America, which represents Wolfgang. Mattie indicated it provided written notice to defendants on August 17, but claimed they continued to reproduce, distribute, license and commercially exploit the track afterward.
Dean, age 27, earned Grammy recognition for best new artist in February and has won four Brit awards including album of the year for The Art of Loving. Additionally, her collaboration with Sam Fender on Rein Me In was noted as the longest-running No. 1 single in UK history as of July 31. Mattie Music Group is led by Marcia Johnson, widow of Withers, and named after his late mother. Withers, a three-time Grammy winner, died in Los Angeles in March 2020.
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