Taylor Swift wins ‘Shake it off’ copyright lawsuit

A federal judge in California has dismissed the lawsuit that accused Taylor Swift of stealing lyrics for her hit song ‘Shake It Off’.

Two songwriters, Sean Hall and Nathan Butler who filed the lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles last year, said Swift’s song was based on the phrase “players, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate,” that they coined  for a 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play” by R&B girl group 3LW.

But Swift’s lyrics from the chorus of “Shake It Off” are, “the players gonna play, play, play, play, play, and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate”, says a Reuters report.

US District Judge Michael Fitzgerald on Tuesday granted Swift's motion to dismiss the suit but is giving the songwriter duo one shot to amend their complaint by Feb 26, according to the Hollywood reporter.

“In order for such short phrases to be protected under the Copyright Act, they must be more creative than the lyrics at issue here,” the US judge ruled.

There is no dispute over whether Hall and Butler owned their lyrics, or that Swift's team had access to the song. There is also no allegation of copying the underlying musical composition.

So Fitzgerald's analysis centred on whether there is substantial similarity between protectable lyrics.