New Copyright Lawsuit Claims Olivia Dean’s ‘I’ve Seen It’ Copies Bill Withers’ ‘Just The Two Of Us’

In 1980, Bill Withers and jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. released the soul classic “Just The Two Of Us.” The song officially appeared on Washington’s album Winelight, but Withers co-wrote it with Ralph MacDonald and William Salter, and his vocal performance became one of the most recognizable parts of the recording. The track was a major hit upon release, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it has since been covered, sampled, and referenced countless times. Now, Withers’ publisher is alleging that Olivia Dean’s recent hit “I’ve Seen It” borrows too much from the 1980 standard.

According to reports from Rolling Stone, Bill Withers’ publisher, Mattie Music Group, filed a federal copyright infringement lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging that “I’ve Seen It,” the final track on Olivia Dean’s 2025 album The Art of Loving, is too similar to “Just The Two Of Us.” The lawsuit does not name Dean or her co-writers, Bastian Langebaek and Max Wolfgang. Instead, Mattie Music Group is seeking damages from Capitol Records, Universal Music Group, and Dean’s publishing companies.

In the complaint, attorneys for Mattie Music Group state that the shared musical features between the two songs are so striking in number, character, and arrangement that they suggest the similarities are not the result of coincidence, independent creation, or common musical elements. Both songs are included below for comparison.

The plaintiffs also say they contacted the defendants in August to notify them of the alleged infringement and that the song’s credits were not adjusted afterward. While songwriting credits are sometimes updated after a record’s release, the dispute has now progressed to litigation.

Bill Withers passed away in 2020. Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving went gold in February, shortly after she won Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards, and it has spawned the top-10 U.S. hits “Man I Need” and “So Easy (To Fall In Love).”

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