According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Natasha" songwriter Guy Hobbs asked the court to acknowledge the similarities between the two songs, including "a theme of impossible love between a Western man and a Communist woman during the Cold War," and "references to written correspondence to the beloved."

Despite Hobbs' claim that the songs shared too many "unique combinations" to be a coincidence, the court didn't agree, stating that copyright law does not cover general ideas, but the specific expression of an idea.