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Plaintiffs drop ‘Shake It Off’ Copyright Infringement lawsuit against Taylor Swift, allowing her to focus on re-recording her album, ‘1989.’
A lawsuit filed initially against Taylor Swift in 2017 for the alleged copyright infringement of lyrics in her 2014 song “Shake It Off” has been dismissed Monday, according to court documents. It’s unclear if plaintiffs Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, who wrote the 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play” by the group 3LW, have reached a settlement with Swift. The pair allege that Swift copied the lyrics of their track in her hit “Shake It Off,” specifically “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate.”
US District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald signed the order to dismiss the lawsuit Monday “pursuant to the parties’ Stipulation,” according to a new court filing. Swift wrote to the court in August that she had never heard the 3LW song and that she wrote the lyrics to “Shake It Off” based on phrases she heard kids say when she was growing up. Her attorney argued that the terms in question were in the public domain, but Swift’s request to dismiss the lawsuit was denied last December.
“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.’”
Fans have speculated that the lawsuit has delayed Swift’s ability to re-record her Grammy-winning album, 1989, which marked her official transition from a country singer into pop music. In addition to 1989, Swift is expected to record new versions of her albums Speak Now, reputation, and Taylor Swift, her self-titled debut.
Taylor Swift originally announced her decision to re-record her first six studio albums in 2019 after her former record label sold her back catalog to Scooter Braun. Since then, she has released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version), both debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 Chart.