Sam Smith & Normani Try Again to Dismiss ‘Dancing With a Stranger’ Copyright Lawsuit: ‘Fatal Defect’

The case was revived by an appeals court last year. Now, the musicians say it should be thrown out for a second time.

Normani performs onstage with Sam Smith during 93.3 FLZ's Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at Amalie Arena on December 01, 2019 in Tampa, Florida.

Gerardo Mora/Getty Images for iHeartRadio

Sam Smith and Normani are once again seeking to throw out a lawsuit that claims their 2019 hit “Dancing With a Stranger” stole its hook from an earlier song.

Lawyers for Smith, Normani and a collection of co-writers and publishers filed a so-called summary judgment motion on Tuesday (July 7) urging a judge to end the copyright claims without a trial. The 2022 lawsuit alleges “Dancing With a Stranger,” which hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 45 weeks on the chart, infringes the 2015 song “Dancing With Strangers” by an artist named Jordan Vincent.