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Sam Smith & Normani Can’t Recover $700K Legal Bill After Beating Copyright Lawsuit, Judge Says

Sam Smith and Normani can't recover their legal fees after their copyright case win. They beat a lawsuit over the 2019 hit “Dancing With a Stranger."

Six months after Sam Smith and Normani beat a copyrightlawsuit over their 2019 hit “Dancing With a Stranger,” a federal judge is refusing to force their accuser to reimburse their legal fees — a bill the stars say exceeded $700,000. Smith and Normani have argued that they shouldn’t be forced to foot the huge bill they incurred fending off the “frivolous and unreasonable” lawsuit, which claimed the duo had copied a little-known 2015 song of the same name when they created “Dancing.” Attorneys for Smith and Normani had argued that the lawsuit was merely a “gamble,” filed against the stars with “hopes for a massive payout.” But Judge Hsu said Monday there was “no evidence” of such ill intent by the accusers.

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