Bill Withers Publisher Sues Music Giants Over Olivia Dean’s ‘I’ve Seen It’

Bill Withers, left, is shown in a 1976 Columbia Records publicity photograph. Olivia Dean performs at BST Hyde Park in London on July 6, 2025. Mattie Music Group, doing business as Bleunig Music, alleges Dean’s “I’ve Seen It” copies protectable elements of the melody of “Just the Two of Us,” which Withers co-wrote with Ralph MacDonald and William Salter. Dean is not a defendant in the lawsuit. (Columbia Records/Public domain; Raph_PH/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0; composite image modified from originals)
A music publishing company founded by Bill Withers has gone to federal court over one of his best-known songs, alleging that a track by Grammy-winning singer Olivia Dean repeatedly copies the melody of “Just the Two of Us.”

Mattie Music Group, doing business as Bleunig Music, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles against Capitol Records, Universal Music Group, Sony Publishing (US) LLC and Kobalt Music Publishing America.

Dean is not a defendant.

Neither is either of her co-writers, Bastian Langebæk and Max Wolfgang.

Instead, the lawsuit targets companies involved in the recording, publishing and commercial exploitation of “I’ve Seen It,” the closing track on Dean’s 2025 album, “The Art of Loving.”

Mattie alleges the song copies “Just the Two of Us” in large and significant part, including repeated use of what the complaint describes as its protectable melody.

According to the filing, representatives of the publisher listened to Dean’s song several times in early August and reached what they called an “obvious and inescapable” conclusion that it copied the earlier composition.

The company then hired musicologist Alexander Stewart, Ph.D., to compare the songs.

Mattie says Stewart conducted a preliminary musicological analysis, searched for similar earlier material and found substantial similarities in protectable musical expression.

What the seven-page complaint does not include is Stewart’s analysis.

There is no musical notation comparing the songs, no measure-by-measure breakdown, no timestamps identifying the disputed passages and no copy of his report.Mattie says it sent written notice to all four defendants on or about Aug. 17, identifying the copyright registration, Dean’s song and the musical similarities it believed infringed its rights.

LISTEN: Olivia Dean — “I've Seen It”

LISTEN: Grover Washington Jr. featuring Bill Withers — “Just the Two of Us”

The lawsuit alleges the companies continued reproducing, distributing, licensing, performing and commercially exploiting “I’ve Seen It” afterward.

No court has determined that the song infringes “Just the Two of Us.”

Billboard reported that representatives for UMG, Sony and Dean did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Kobalt representative declined to comment.

The history of the song at the center of the case makes the dispute more complicated than the shorthand description of “Just the Two of Us” as a Bill Withers classic might suggest.

The recording originated with jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. and appeared on his 1980 album, “Winelight,” with Withers singing lead.

Withers shares the songwriting credit with Ralph MacDonald and William Salter.

Released as a single in 1981, “Just the Two of Us” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. MacDonald, Salter and Withers won the 1982 Grammy Award for best rhythm and blues song.

Withers was also unusually candid about how he entered the collaboration.

“I came in after the foundation was already there,” he told American Songwriter.

Withers recalled that MacDonald and Salter already had a demo when they approached him about singing it. He said he wanted to improve the words, memorably describing the existing lyrics as wearing overalls and his revisions as an attempt to put them in a tuxedo.

“I wasn’t the genesis” of the song, Withers said.

That history does not by itself determine Bleunig’s rights in the composition.

It is nevertheless particularly interesting here because Mattie’s lawsuit focuses not on Withers’ lyrics but on alleged copying of the song’s melody.

The complaint says Withers was under contract with Bleunig when he co-wrote “Just the Two of Us” and describes Mattie as a copyright proprietor of the composition.

Bleunig is one of three publishers credited on the song, along with Antisia Music and BMG Ruby Songs. Neither of those companies joined the lawsuit.

Bleunig is not a company that bought its way into the Withers catalog decades later.

Withers founded Golden Withers Music in 1974 after deciding he wanted greater control over his songwriting rights, according to Mattie Music Group’s company history. He established Bleunig in 1978 as he expanded his publishing interests and formed Mattie Music Group in 1997 as an umbrella for those businesses.

He named Mattie Music Group after his mother.

The company identifies Bleunig as a co-publisher of “Just the Two of Us.”

Dean arrives at the dispute from the other end of the song’s 45-year history.

“I’ve Seen It” was written by Dean, Langebæk and Wolfgang. Langebæk, Wolfgang and Zach Nahome are credited as producers.

Dean’s career has surged since “The Art of Loving” arrived in September 2025. She won the Grammy Award for best new artist in February.

Now a song from that album is at the center of a copyright case involving a composition that won its own songwriting Grammy more than four decades earlier.

Mattie is seeking an injunction, its alleged losses, profits attributable to the alleged infringement, interest, costs and attorneys’ fees.

The complaint also asks the court to allow the seizure, impoundment or destruction of copies found to infringe its rights.

It does not demand a specific dollar amount.

For now, Mattie has put its allegation before a federal judge: that a melody heard around the world for 45 years can be heard again in “I’ve Seen It.”

What it has not yet put in the public record is the musical analysis it says shows why.

Rick Ross Pleads Not Guilty After Miami Beach Arrest on Domestic Violence Charges

Rick Ross is shown in a booking photograph following his arrest by Miami Beach police. The rapper faces one felony count of battery by strangulation and one misdemeanor battery count in a domestic violence case. Ross pleaded not guilty Thursday. (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation)

Rick Ross was arrested in Miami Beach early Thursday on felony and misdemeanor battery charges after a woman told police he repeatedly struck her during an Aug. 28 confrontation that she said began over an Instagram photo.

Ross, 50, whose legal name is William Leonard Roberts, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at 6:10 a.m., according to Miami-Dade jail and court records.

He faces one felony count of battery by strangulation and one misdemeanor count of battery. Court records list both charges as involving domestic violence.

Ross pleaded not guilty through an attorney during his first court appearance Thursday.

The hearing also produced an unexpected exchange after Ross' attorney asked whether his release could be expedited because of his celebrity status and said the rapper had been placed in a red jumpsuit for his safety.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer was unmoved.

“I have no idea who you are,” Glazer told Ross before saying he would be treated fairly like everyone else appearing before the court.

The charges stem from an alleged Aug. 28 incident.

According to an arrest report reviewed by WSVN, the woman told police Ross became angry over an Instagram photograph in which she had been tagged.

She alleged Ross slapped her in the face as he questioned her about the photograph and later struck her several times in the chest, leaving her unable to breathe.

The woman also told investigators Ross grabbed her by the ponytail and slammed her head to the ground, according to the report.

Attorney Steve Sadow said Ross is being wrongfully accused by an ex-girlfriend and noted that the alleged incident was not reported to police until about a month later.

Ross has denied the allegations through his attorneys.

Under Florida law, battery by strangulation involves knowingly and intentionally impeding another person's normal breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to the throat or neck or blocking the nose or mouth in a manner that creates a risk of or causes great bodily harm. The offense is a third-degree felony.

Ross' arrest came days after his former girlfriend, Jazzma Kendrick, separately accused him of physical abuse in posts on Instagram Stories.

Kendrick shared an image of an injured lip that she attributed to Ross and said she had left the relationship after the alleged incident.

Authorities have not publicly identified the woman in the criminal case by name, however, and early court reporting did not establish that Kendrick's public allegations were the basis for Thursday's charges.

Ross emerged as one of Miami's biggest rap stars with his 2006 breakout single “Hustlin'” and later founded Maybach Music Group, whose roster has included prominent hip-hop artist Meek Mill and Wale, among others.

His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 22.

1990s Rap Group Home Team Files Copyright Suit Against Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees

Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees are at the center of a federal copyright lawsuit brought by brothers Patrick and Van Watler of the ’90s Miami rap duo Home Team, who allege the artists’ 2023 “Pick It Up” infringes their 1992 composition of the same name. 

More than three decades after Miami rap duo Home Team told listeners to “Pick It Up,” the group says
Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees picked up too much.

Brothers Patrick and Van Watler have sued Dupri, Jacquees and Mass Appeal Media Inc. in federal court, alleging the 2023 Jermaine Dupri single “Pick It Up,” featuring Jacquees, infringes their 1992 song of the same name.

The lawsuit, filed Sept. 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges the newer recording copies protected lyrics and musical elements from Home Team’s song without permission.

Neither the allegations nor the songs’ shared title establishes copyright infringement, and the court has not ruled on the Watlers’ claims. The defendants had not filed a substantive response to the complaint as of Tuesday.

The dispute reaches back to Miami’s early-1990s rap scene.

Home Team released its “Pick It Up” through Luke Records, the label founded by Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell and closely associated with the rise of Miami bass. Campbell was credited as an executive producer on the duo’s 1992 album, “Via Satellite From Saturn.”

HEAR THE ORIGINAL

Home Team — “Pick It Up” (1992)

The Luke Records single at the center of Patrick and Van Watler’s copyright lawsuit was released more than three decades before Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees’ recording of the same name.

WATCH ON APPLE MUSIC

The song reached Billboard’s Hot 100 in December 1992, peaking at No. 90. It also appeared on Billboard’s R&B and rap charts.

Federal copyright records identify Patrick and Van Watler as the writers of the composition’s words and music. The work, registration No. PA0000858142, is listed as having been created in 1992, published Aug. 4 of that year and registered in 1997. Lil’ Joe Wein Music Inc. is identified as the copyright claimant in the registration record.

The lawsuit gives a slightly different date, saying Home Team released the song on or around July 3, 1992.

Thirty-one years later, Dupri released another “Pick It Up,” featuring Jacquees.

WATCH

Jermaine Dupri feat. Jacquees — “Pick It Up” (2023)

Jermaine Dupri featuring Jacquees, “Pick It Up.” Official video via Jermaine Dupri/Mass Appeal.

The 2023 recording was produced by Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox and released through Mass Appeal. Its official video features Dupri and Jacquees moving through Atlanta locations while Jacquees handles the record’s sung vocals.

The Watlers contend the similarities go beyond the title.

Their complaint alleges the newer “Pick It Up” reproduces protectable elements of Home Team’s lyrics and melody or harmony. It says the defendants did not seek or receive a license, permission or clearance to use the earlier composition.

The lawsuit, however, does not identify in its 12 pages the particular lyric, melodic phrase or harmonic passage the brothers contend was copied.

Instead, the Watlers allege that the two works are substantially similar and say the defendants have profited from the newer recording.

The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that the defendants have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from sales, streaming, licensing and other exploitation of the 2023 song. It does not provide royalty statements or other financial records supporting that figure.

The brothers are asking for considerably more than a single damages award.

Their complaint seeks an accounting of revenue connected to the newer song, songwriter credit and publishing percentages, as well as damages, attorneys’ fees and an injunction.

The prayer for relief asks for more than $150,000 in what the lawsuit describes as general damages and more than $150,000 in special damages. It also requests statutory damages under federal copyright law and additional relief against Mass Appeal.

The Watlers further want Dupri, Jacquees and the other defendants to recognize them as writers of the allegedly infringing material and to direct third parties under their control to update the song’s credits accordingly.

They have requested a jury trial.

The case is Watler et al. v. Mauldin et al., No. 1:26-cv-26546, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Summonses were issued Sept. 22 for Dupri, whose legal name is Jermaine Dupri Mauldin; Jacquees, whose legal name is Rodriguez Jacquees Broadnax; and Mass Appeal Media.