Taylor Swift faces trial over ‘Shake it Off’ lyrics
- Tom Rider
Taylor Swift will face a jury trial over accusations that she plagiarised lyrics for her 2014 hit Shake It Off from another song.
A federal judge ruled that the singer must face a jury trial over accusations that she lifted lyrics for her song "Shake It Off" from a 2000 song with the line "playas, they gon' play" and "haters, they gonna hate."
In response, a representative for Swift said: “These men are not the originators, or creators, of the common phrases "players" or "haters" or combinations of them. They did not invent these common phrases nor are they the first to use them in a song.”
The case will go to a jury trial but a date has not yet been set.
Peter Anderson, who is representing Swift in the lawsuit, did not respond to a request for comment. The singer's spokesperson told the Guardian that the lawsuit "is not a crusade for all creatives, it is a crusade for Mr. Hall's bank account."
- Hall and Butler’s attorney, Marina Bogorad, told BuzzFeed News in a statement that they were "extremely satisfied" with the ruling.
- We are pleased that the court refused to engage into a battle of the experts, especially given that defendants’ resources vastly outweigh those of our clients here, and it is about time that justice should serve the merits rather than deep pockets.
- It's not the first time Swift has been sued over her lyrics in "Shake It Off."
"The concept of actors acting in accordance with their essential nature is not at all creative; it is banal. "In sum, the lyrics at issue... are too brief, unoriginal, and uncreative to warrant protection under the Copyright Act." However, songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler appealed against the ruling and a federal appeals court reversed his decision. Swift's Shake It Off is the biggest-selling single of her career, topping the US charts and reaching number two in the UK (where it was held off the top spot by Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass).
Lawyers for Hall and Butler welcomed the decision, saying the court "did the right thing". Swift's team declined to comment when contacted by the BBC. A date for the trial has yet to be announced.