The 'All Too Well' hitmaker files new motion weeks after Judge Michael Fitzgerald said that there are 'enough objective similarities' between the lyrics of her track from her album '1989' and 3LW's 'Playas Gon' Play'.
- Dec 28, 2021
AceShowbiz - Taylor Swift is asking the court to dismiss the copyright infringement lawsuit for her song "Shake It Off". The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter filed her motion just weeks after a federal judge ordered her to stand trial.
The "All Too Well" hitmaker, who was accused of stealing lyrics of 3LW's song "Playas Gon' Play" for "Shake It Off" in 2017, filed the legal documents on December 23, as reported by Rolling Stone on Monday, December 27. In the petition, the 32-year-old musician asked Judge Michael Fitzgerald to reconsider his decision.
"Both works use versions of two short public domain phrases -- 'players gonna play' and 'haters gonna hate' -- that are free for everyone to use," the new court documents stated. "The presence of versions of the two short public domain statements and two other tautologies in both songs simply does not satisfy the extrinsic test."
The legal papers further stressed that "Plaintiffs could sue everyone who writes, sings, or publicly says 'players gonna play' and 'haters gonna hate' alone with other tautologies." It added, "To permit that is unprecedented and cheats the public domain."
Meanwhile, Gerard Fox, a lawyer representing Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, the pair of songwriters who wrote 3LW's 2001 track, said in a statement, "We feel there is no basis for reconsideration, and that this is just a music mogul and her machine trying to deny our client justice by outspending a fellow lower-income artist." The attorney pointed out, "Totally uncool among artists."
Taylor's request arrived less than three weeks after judge Michael said there were "enough objective similarities" between the two tracks for the case to move forward. "Even though there are some noticeable differences between the works, there are also significant similarities in word usage and sequence/structure," the judge stated at the time. "Although Defendants' experts strongly refute the implication that there are substantial similarities, the Court is not inclined to overly credit their opinions here."
Back in 2018, judge Michael said the lines were "short phrases that lack the modicum of originality and creativity required for copyright protection." A hearing on Taylor's request for reconsideration is scheduled for February 7 in Los Angeles.
