Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off copyright lawsuit dropped… the day before her 33rd birthday
Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off copyright lawsuit dropped… the day before her 33rd birthday
11-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift – who turns 33 this Tuesday – received an early birthday present on Monday when US District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald dismissed the copyright lawsuit regarding her 2014 hit Shake It Off.
The trial scheduled to begin on January 17 was called off when songwriters – Nate Butler and Sean ‘Sep’ Hall – agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled, according to NBC News.
Butler and Hall previously claimed in 2017 that the Pennsylvania-born pop diva had plagiarized lyrics from their 2001 song Playas Gon’ Play written for the girl group 3LW.
Turning 33 this Tuesday! 11-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift received an early birthday present on Monday when US District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald dismissed the copyright lawsuit regarding her 2014 hit Shake It Off (pictured November 20)
US District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald had dismissed the case in 2018 but US Circuit Judges John B. Owens, Andrew D. Hurwitz, and Kenneth K. Lee of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the ruling in 2019.
Taylor wrote in a declaration to the court that she never heard Playas Gon’ Play, which utilized the same public domain phrases – ‘players gonna play’ and ‘haters gonna hate’ – as Shake It Off.
‘I recall hearing phrases about players play and haters hate stated together by other children while attending school in Wyomissing Hills and in high school in Hendersonville,’ Swift wrote in August.
‘These phrases were akin to other commonly used sayings like “don’t hate the playa, hate the game,” “take a chill pill,” and “say it, don’t spray it.”‘
‘Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation’: The trial scheduled to begin on January 17 was called off when songwriters – Nate Butler (pictured in 2021) and Sean ‘Sep’ Hall – agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled
Secret settlement? Butler and Hall previously claimed in 2017 that the Pennsylvania-born pop diva had plagiarized lyrics from their 2001 song Playas Gon’ Play written for the girl group 3LW (pictured in 2001)
Taylor wrote in a declaration to the court that she never heard Playas Gon’ Play, which utilized the same public domain phrases – ‘players gonna play’ and ‘haters gonna hate’ – as Shake It Off
Hitmaker: Swift wrote the lyrics and composed the melody with producers Max Martin and Shellback and Shake It Off went on to receive three Grammy nods and topped the US Billboard 100 for four weeks
The Lavender Haze songstress wrote the lyrics and composed the melody with producers Max Martin and Shellback and Shake It Off went on to receive three Grammy nods and topped the US Billboard 100 for four weeks.
Fans are speculating that now that the lawsuit is behind Taylor, she’s now free to re-record her fifth studio album 1989 on which it appeared.
Swift – who dropped Taylor’s Versions of Red and Fearless in 2021 – has just four more archival albums to faithfully re-record after losing the rights to her own master recordings.
The Emmy-winning producer was blindsided on June 28, 2019 when Scott Borchetta sold Big Machine Records for $300M to Scott ‘Scooter’ Braun, who then sold her masters to Shamrock Holdings for $300M.
Two down, four to go! Fans are speculating that now that the lawsuit is behind the Lavender Haze songstress, she’s now free to re-record her fifth studio album 1989 on which it appeared
Another one for the mantel? On Monday, the Hollywood Foreign Press announced that Taylor’s song Carolina on the Where The Crawdads Sing soundtrack was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best original song
Who will win? Swift faces heavy competition against Alexandre Desplat (Ciao Papa), Lady Gaga (Hold My Hand), Rihanna (Lift Me Up), and M.M. Keeravani (Naatu Naatu)
On Monday, the Hollywood Foreign Press announced that Taylor’s song Carolina on the Where The Crawdads Sing soundtrack was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best original song.
Swift faces heavy competition against Alexandre Desplat (Ciao Papa), Lady Gaga (Hold My Hand), Rihanna (Lift Me Up), and M.M. Keeravani (Naatu Naatu).
But first, the 5ft10in blonde will compete for four trophies – including song of the year – at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, which air February 5 on CBS/Paramount+.