American pop artist Taylor Swift has commented on a copyright lawsuit that was filed against her for the song Shake It Off in 2014. The vocalist has been charged with stealing the 2001 song Playas Gon’ Play by the American pop duo 3LW. 2017 saw the lawsuit’s filing by 3LW composers Sean Hall and Nathan Butler.
The lawsuit was initially dropped in 2018, but an appeals tribunal later decided to bring it back. Since the song was written by Taylor Swift, she has now defended the case.
The performer was quoted by Billboard as saying, citing motion papers:
Shake It Off’s lyrics were all written by Taylor
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Taylor Swift provided some details regarding the song’s composition:
“I drew on my experiences to write the lyrics, especially the continual public scrutiny of my private life, ‘clickbait’ reporting, public manipulation, and other types of harsh personal criticism that I learned I simply needed to brush off and concentrate on my music.”
Before the allegation, Taylor Swift maintains she has never heard the song “Players Gonna Play.”
In a federal court document submitted on August 8, Taylor Swift refuted any allegations of copyright infringement. Since Swift “had never heard the song ‘Playas Gon’ Play’ and had never heard of that song or the group 3LW,” she insisted that she could not have copied the 3LW tune. She further said:
“After this assertion was made, I heard the music for the first time.”
Aphorisms like “players going to play” and “haters going to hate” were popular in Swift’s youth, she added. As stated by the singer:
“When I was in school in Wyomissing Hills and high school in Hendersonville, I remember hearing other kids use terminology like players play and haters hate.”
Swift also pointed out further occurrences of the expression “players going to play,” which has been used in a number of songs, movies, and other literary works. She also thought back to a performance from 2013 where she wore a T-shirt that read, “Haters going to hate.”
Peter Anderson, Swift’s lawyer, released the following statement:
“Unfortunately, it is not unusual for litigants seeking a windfall based on spurious claims that their own music was pirated to encounter a hit song… Even against this context, [the Plaintiffs’] complaint strikes out as being incredibly weak.
Shake It Off, Taylor Swift’s album from 2014
The opening track, Shake It Off, was included on Swift’s fifth studio album, 1989. The song was made public in August 2014. As a component of 3LW’s debut album of the same name, Playas Gon’ Play was released in 2001.
In 2018, they rejected the complaint, but the following year, an appeals panel reopened it. Although there is no set date for the actual court trial, a judge ruled in December 2021 that the case should be decided by a jury.
There have already been a number of copyright cases filed against bands. A copyright case made against Ed Sheeran’s song Shape of You earlier this year was successful. In a case brought against her because of the song “Dark Horse,” Katy Perry also prevailed.
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