Taylor Swift’s Lawyers Ask For 3LW Lawsuit Dismissal
Taylor Swift’s lawyers respond to the claim her hit ‘Shake It Off’ infringes on the copyright of 3LW’s ‘Playas Gon’ Play.’
By WKBW on January 4, 2018
Taylor Swift was hit with a lawsuit over the lyrics of her 2014 hit, “Shake It Off.” Songwriters Nathan Butler and Sean Hall claimed that the song infringed on the copyright for their 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play” by 3LW.
Swift’s lawyers wrote in a motion filed in U.S. district court in the Central District of California:
“There can be no copyright protection in ‘playas, they gonna play and haters, they gonna hate,’ because it would impermissibly monopolize the idea that players will play and haters will hate. Plaintiffs’ claim to being the only ones in the world who can refer to players playing and haters hating is frivolous… Providing a copyright monopoly in the phrase would prevent others from sharing the idea that players play and haters hate.”
Their argument essentially boiled down to the fact that the phrase “playas, they gonna play and haters, they gonna hate” can’t be copyrighted because it is too broad of an idea.
Swift’s lawyers also argued that the phrase “playas gon’ play” was something that already existed before the 3LW song:
“Plaintiffs are very specific about the lyrics allegedly copied, and their specificity establishes that they impermissibly rely on an uncopyrightable short phrase comprised of words they admit were commonplace before their musical composition.”
The motion goes on to name this idea being implemented in previous songs, citing the Notorious B.I.G., Fleetwood Mac, Cypress Hill, OutKast, Luniz and Too Short, reports Billboard.
For comparison, the 3LW’s chorus goes, “Playas, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate.” Swift’s recites, “Players gonna play, play, play, play, play, and haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate.”
Swift is currently gearing up to go on her Reputation Tour, which kicks off in May. She recently added more North America dates, which you can check out here. Tickets for her tour go on sale Jan. 31, and the pre-sale tickets are available Jan. 5.
