A Californian Judge, Gail J Standish, recently dismissed a copyright lawsuit where it was alleged that Taylor Swift had copied lyrics for her popular song “Shake It Off”. Taylor Swift is in fact an avid fan of enforcing her own copyright, was facing a $42 million damages claim. Jesse Graham filed the lawsuit claiming that Taylor Swift had stolen the lyrics “haters gonna hate” from a song he wrote in 2013 following a refusal of an original writing credit and a selfie with the star. The Court ruled that the plaintiff did not provide enough factual evidence and that the allegations were not more than speculative. In defending the claim there was evidence to show that the phrases “haters gonna hate” and “players gonna play” were long in existence before being used by Jessie Graham. The plaintiff had also admitted that the songs were in no way similar. The ruling itself quotes from numerous Taylor Swift songs noting that “at least for the moment, the Defendants have shaken off this lawsuit.”
