A lawsuit against the singer claims she plagiarized lyrics from the 3LW girl group’s song Playas’ Gon’ Play, released in 2000. On August 08, 2022, Swift filed a sworn declaration that she had written the entire lyrics of Shake It Off all by herself. Taylor Swift further stated that she was unaware of the song Playas Gon’ Play until 2017.
The lawsuit about Shake-it-off Lyrics
The lyricist pair Nathan Butler and Sean Hall, who wrote the song Playas Gon’ Play, filed the copyright suit in 2017, citing how similar the lines ‘ playas gon’ play’ and ‘haters gonna hate’ sounded. However, in 2018, a judge dismissed the case stating that the lyrics did not have any merit for copying as it was too banal. However, things did not end there as the Taylor Swift lawsuit is again grabbing headlines as an appeal panel resurrected it in 2021. In an interesting twist, in December 2021, a judge turned down Taylor Swift’s request to dismiss the case. The judge opined that a jury should settle the matter as there were enough objective similarities between the two songs. Marina Bogorad, the Plaintiff’s lawyer, expressed happiness as her clients are closer to the justice they rightly deserve.
The judge’s opinion is especially gratifying to the Plaintiffs as it reinforces the idea of protecting their creativity from misappropriation that can attract retribution.
Taylor Swift’s viewpoint about writing the song
Swift clarified the dynamics and inspiration behind writing the Shake it off lyrics when stating her motion in the lawsuit. She said that she partly drew from her life’s experiences, especially the endless scrutiny of her public life. In addition, other forms of negative personal criticism about public manipulation and clickbait reporting taught her the need to shake it off and concentrate on her music.
The singer wants her song to become a tool for personal independence to shake off negative criticism. She wanted to provide a light-hearted but empowering approach to make people feel better about negative criticism through music and dance. Further clarification about Taylor Swift’s shake-it-off provides more insights into the singer and songwriter’s intention in writing the song.
While clarifying further about the Shake it off lyrics, Taylor Swift mentions how she relied on comments heard and commonly used phrases experienced throughout her life when writing the line ‘haters going to hate’. Her situational awareness is rooted in her school days.
No Possibility of Hearing the Song Earlier
Taylor Swift denied the possibility of hearing the 3LW song earlier in any form of social media or other media setting. Her parents did not allow her to watch MTV’s Total Request Live until she was 13 years old in 2003, whereas the 3LW hit was first released in an album in 2000.
However, the plaintiffs are confident of proving their point successfully in the Shake it off lyrics lawsuit.
