Bill Withers' music publisher files copyright suit over Olivia Dean's 'I've Seen It'
Bill Withers poses for a portrait session in 1985. Olivia Dean attends the 2026 MOBO Awards at Co-op Live in March in Manchester, England. (Photos by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images and Matt McNulty/Getty Images for MOBO)
The music publisher for the late R&B and soul singer Bill Withers is suing several record companies and others, claiming that singer-songwriter Olivia Dean’s “I’ve Seen It” infringes on the melody of Withers’ classic song “Just the Two of Us,” according to Law360.
The Mattie Music Group, which does business as Bleunig Music, filed a lawsuit Thursday in California against Capitol Records, the Universal Music Group, Sony and others over “I’ve Seen It,” which was written and composed by Dean, Bastian Langebaek and Max Wolfgang, who are not named as defendants.
“Upon listening several times to ‘I’ve Seen It,’ representatives of plaintiffs came to what they considered to be the obvious and inescapable conclusion that ‘I’ve Seen It’ copied in large and significant part of the original work, including without limitation repeated copying of the distinctively protectable melody, and clearly infringed plaintiff’s copyrights in and to the original work,” the suit claims, according to Law360.
The Mattie Music Group said it is the copyright proprietor of “Just the Two of Us,” written by the late Withers, Ralph MacDonald and William Salter.
Released in 1981, it reached the No. 2 spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart and won a Grammy for Best R&B song, the Mattie Music Group said. “I’ve Seen It” is featured on Dean’s The Art of Loving album, which was released in September 2025.
Representatives for the parties did not respond to Law360 requests for comment Thursday.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
.jpg)
