Taylor Swift Faces Plagiarism Trial Over “Shake It Off” Lyrics

Taylor Swift will face a jury trial for one of her hit songs “Shake It Off” over accusations the lyrics were plagiarized.

The lawsuit was originally dismissed in 2018, but a successful appeal from the plaintiffs have moved the case to trial.

A U.S. judge denied Swift’s request for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that a jury could find the song copied “Playas Gon’ Play,” a song by girl group 3WL, released in 2001. Both songs have similar variations on the lines “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate.”

District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald had originally dismissed the lawsuit in 2018, saying the lyrics were too “banal” to be copyrighted. He used 13 songs that featured similar wording as examples-including songs from Fleetwood Mac and Notorious B.I.G.

“Playas Gon’ Play” songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler appealed the ruling, seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages, and luck was on their side as a federal court decided to reverse the decision in October 2019.

A representative for Swift said, “These men are not the originators, or creators, of the common phrases “players” or “hates” or combinations of them. They did not invent these common phrases nor are they the first to use them in a song.”

They continued the statement and expressed their confidence that the “true writers of Shake It Off’ – namely Swift and co-producers Max Martin and Shellback – will prevail again. [Hall and Butler’s] claim is not a crusade for all creatives, it is a crusade for Mr. Hall’s bank account.”

On December 9, Fitzgerald refused Swift’s request for a summary judgment, which would not have immediately ruled that she did not breach copyright.

He wrote, “Even though there are some notable differences between the works, there are also significant similarities in word usage and sequence/structure,” adding that “the court cannot presently determine that no reasonable juror could find substantial similarity of lyrical phrasing, word arrangement, or poetic structure between the two works.”

Lawyers for Hall and Butler said that the court “did the right thing”

Swift has no comment on the trial.