nme.com
09.08.2022 / 09:13
Taylor Swift addresses ‘Shake It Off’ copyright lawsuit: “The lyrics were written entirely by me”
Taylor Swift has addressed a 2017 copyright lawsuit that claimed she stole the lyrics of her 2014 song ‘Shake It Off’.Writing in a federal court document filed yesterday (August 8), the popstar denied any copyright infringement, and claimed she’d “never heard” the song she is accused of plagiarising – 2001’s ‘Playas Gon’ Play’ by the American pop trio 3LW.In excerpts of the motion obtained by Billboard, Swift unequivocally rejected the accusation, writing that “the lyrics to ‘Shake It Off’ were written entirely by me”, before providing context around how they came to be included in the song.“In writing the lyrics, I drew partly on experiences in my life and, in particular, unrelenting public scrutiny of my personal life, ‘clickbait’ reporting, public manipulation, and other forms of negative personal criticism which I learned I just needed to shake off and focus on my music,” Swift wrote.Elsewhere in the motion, Swift spoke directly to the lyric in question, arguing that “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate” were widespread aphorisms used throughout her childhood, “akin to … sayings like ‘don’t hate the playa, hate the game,’” and “‘take a chill pill’”.“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 said.Swift also cited the numerous uses of the phrase in “many songs, films, and other works,” and referenced a 2013 performance in which she wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the term “haters gonna hate.”The lawsuit — filed by ‘Playas Gon’ Play’ songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler — was dropped in 2018, but was later resurrected by an appeals panel the following year.