Taylor Swift “Shakes Off” Plagiarism Suit

 

Jesse Braham, an amateur musician, filed a copyright infringement suit in federal court in California against international pop star Taylor Swift. His complaint alleged that lyrics from Swift’s chart-topping single “Shake It Off” were 92% plagiarized from a song he wrote in 2013, “Haters Gonna Hate.” He specifically claimed Swift’s lyric, “the players gonna play, play, play, play, play. And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate,” came from his song’s lyric, “Haters gone hate, playas gone play.” Unfortunately for Braham, on November 12, the District Court Judge, citing reasons of factual insufficiency, dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim for which relief could be granted. Drawing from another well-known Swift lyric, the Judge wrote in her dismissal, “As currently drafted, the Complaint has a blank space – one that requires Braham to do more than write his name.”

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