Taylor Swift Triumphs: Lawsuit Over ‘Shake It Off’ Dismissed!
Taylor Swift is in a legal battle over allegations that she stole the lyrics to “Shake It Off” from an earlier song titled “Playas Gon’ Play” by the group 3LW. Swift is now asking a federal judge to cancel the planned jury trial based on the argument that the judge’s ruling against her was unprecedented.
Two weeks after the court refused to dismiss the lawsuit, Swift’s attorneys are urging the judge to reconsider his decision. In a rare move, Swift’s legal team argued that allowing the case to proceed to trial sets a dangerous precedent that could lead to numerous similar lawsuits in the future.
The lawsuit was filed in 2017 by Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, the songwriters of “Playas Gon’ Play.” The disputed lyrics in question are “playas, they gonna play” and “haters, they gonna hate” from the 3LW song, and “‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.” from Swift’s “Shake It Off.”
“Shake It Off” soared to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 2014, spending four weeks in the number one spot. The song’s success continued as it charted for 50 weeks, tying with one of Swift’s other hits, “You Belong With Me,” for her longest-charting single.
On December 9, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald denied Swift’s request to dismiss the case, stating that there were notable similarities in word usage and structure between the two songs. Swift’s legal team now argues that the judge made a clear error by not applying copyright law’s extrinsic test to filter out material that isn’t protected by copyrights.
Swift’s attorneys emphasized the importance of distinguishing between protected and unprotected material in a plaintiff’s work, referencing a high-profile ruling that dismissed a similar case against Led Zeppelin. According to Swift’s legal team, the alleged similarities between “Playas Gon’ Play” and “Shake It Off” do not meet the extrinsic test requirement.
Responding to Swift’s motion, an attorney for Hall and Butler dismissed it as groundless and reiterated that the court should not reverse its ruling based on Swift’s dissatisfaction. The attorney expressed confidence that the court would maintain its initial decision.
As the legal battle continues, fans and the music industry alike await the outcome of this high-profile case involving one of the biggest pop stars of our time, Taylor Swift.
