( June 25, 2025, 8:29 AM EDT) -- SAN FRANCISCO — Despite arguments from Sam Smith and others that a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s revival of a copyright suit involving the song “Dancing With a Stranger” conflicts with earlier Ninth Circuit copyright precedent, the appeals court denied their petition for rehearing, leaving in place a per curiam opinion that a jury could reasonably see substantial similarity between the song’s chorus and that of a song written by the plaintiffs-appellants....