Here we go again... another copyright lawsuit over lyrics in the music industry.
This time around it's pop singer Taylor Swift and her huge hit 2014 "Shake if off". The lawsuit is being brought by songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler who filed it in 2017 claiming that Swift "lifted" lyrics from their 2001 3LW recording "Playas Gon' Play".
THE LYRICS
In Swift's "Shake if Off" the lyrics go -
"Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate."
In Hall & Butler's " Playas Gon' Play" the lyrics are -
"Playas, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate."
- The case was dismissed in 2018 by a U.S. District court judge but today a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sent it back to the U.S. District Court.
In a statement Hall praised the decision -
“We are happy the court unanimously sided with us,” and, “This case is giving voice to all of those creatives who can’t afford to stand up and protect their work in the face of well-financed Goliaths.”
Rolling Stone reported that
In response, a rep for Swift said, “Mr. Hall is incorrect, the court did not unanimously side in their favor, the court sent the case back to the lower court for further determination. 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. We are confident the true writers of ‘Shake It Off’ will prevail again. Their claim is not a crusade for all creatives, it is a crusade for Mr. Hall’s bank account.”
- Swift's "Shake it off" Has 2.9 BILLION views on Youtube
- 3LW's "Playas Gon' Play" has 12 Million views on Youtube
MORE AT ROLLING STONE
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