Judge Orders Taylor Swift To Face Trial In 'Shake It Off' Copyright Lawsuit

A judge has ordered Taylor Swift to face trial over allegations that her 2014 hit song "Shake It Off" contains lyrics that were stolen from 3LW's 2001 track "Playas Gon' Play," which also makes references to "playas" and "haters."

U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald junked Swift's petition to scrap the case, saying that though there are "some noticeable differences" between the two songs, they have "enough objective similarities." Therefore, it would need to be decided by a jury trial, reported Billboard.

According to the judge, who made the ruling Thursday, Swift made some "persuasive arguments" against the case, but it was not enough for the court to drop the accusations against her.

The case against the "All Too Well" singer was filed in 2017 by Sean Hall and Nathan Butlers, the songwriters of "Playas Gon' Play." 3LW, the R&B pop group that performed the track, is composed of Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams and Naturi Naughton, who replaced founding member Jessica Benson.

The songwriters argue that the lines from their song that go, "Playas, they gonna play," and, "Haters, they gonna hate," are very similar to a line in Swift's track, which goes, "'Cause the payers gonna play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate."

In 2018, Swift's lawyers argued that while the lines are similar, the lyrics are a musical cliché and are therefore not covered by copyright.

"Copyright does not protect short phrases such as the short phrase plaintiffs claim was copied," the lawyers noted in their file for dismissal as per Teen Vogue.

Hall and Butler's case were earlier dismissed by Fitzgerald, saying that the lyrics were merely "short phrases that lack the modicum of originality and creativity required for copyright protection."

The judge even cited 13 different previously released songs that also featured similar lines, including "Playa Hater" by The Notorious B.I.G. and "Man U Luv To Hate" by Sir Mix-A-Lot.

A year later, a federal appeals court reversed the ruling and sent the case back to Fitzgerald for new proceedings.

"Shake It Off" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 2014 and remained on the chart's summit for four weeks. The song spent a total of 50 weeks on the Hot 100 and tied with another Swift song, "You Belong With Me," which also spent 50 weeks on the chart.