Taylor Swift Faces Shake It Off Copyright Case

Taylor Swift (Instagram @taylorswift)

JAKARTA - Singer Taylor Swift will follow the court regarding the copyright case for the song Shake It Off. He was first sued in 2017 by Sean Hall and Nathan Butler.

Hall and Butler claim the lyrics to Shake It Off contain the lyrics to a song they wrote for 3LW, namely “Playas gon' play” which is in the bridge section of Swift's song. They released the song in 2001 while Swift released it in 2014.

Hall and Butler's lyrics for "Players gonna play" and "Haters gonna hate" were used by Swift as part of the chorus for Shake it Off.

After being discontinued in 2018, the case was reopened in October 2019. At that time, the judge said the words lacked originality and creativity. They also cited 13 songs with similar lyrics from The Notorious BIG and Sir Mix-A-Lot.

His lawsuit was submitted to US District Court for review in 2019.

Citing Billboard, Taylor Swift reportedly wanted to drop the case but Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald rejected the request. He explained that there are objective similarities between the two songs so he cannot ignore the case.

The judge said Swift had arguments to address the claim but that she was also asked to appear in the trial case.

Hall and Butler's attorney, Marina Bogorad, welcomed the judge's decision to proceed with the case. "We are pleased that the court refused to be involved in the feud, especially since the defendant (Taylor Swift) is bigger than our client," said Bogorad.

Taylor Swift refused to respond to this copyright infringement case.