Sony Music Entertainment (SME) has dismissed its copyright lawsuit against the production companies behind "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody" (2022). The suit, initially filed nine months ago, has been dropped with prejudice.

The original lawsuit centered on sync agreements for 24 Whitney Houston tracks used in the biopic. While the exact financial terms were redacted in court documents, the production companies allegedly failed to make required payments by a 2023 deadline.

Key points about the case:

• The film earned $59.4 million at the box office on a $45 million budget
• The sync agreements covered 24 Whitney Houston songs
• Some of these tracks were later licensed to Duolingo
• The case was dismissed with prejudice, though settlement terms remain private

This resolution joins other recent music industry legal developments, including:

• Ed Sheeran's victory in the "Thinking Out Loud" lawsuit
• Universal Music Group's $500 million lawsuit against Believe and TuneCore over alleged piracy
• A unique case involving Plies, Soulja Boy, and Megan Thee Stallion regarding nested sampling permissions

The dismissal marks the end of this particular copyright dispute, though specific settlement details between Sony Music and the production companies remain undisclosed.

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