In response to a lawsuit filed for ‘Shake It Off,’ Taylor Swift has claimed that the lyrics of the songs were written “entirely” by her. A suit has been filed claiming that Taylor Swift stole the lyrics for her 2014 hit from the 2000 song “Playas Gon’ Play” by girl group 3LW.
Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, the lyricists of ‘Playas Gon’ Play,’ filed a copyright lawsuit in 2017. However, the case was dismissed in 2018 because the lyrics were “too banal” to be stolen.
The case was reopened in 2019 by an appeal panel citing “enough objective similarities.”
According to USA Today, Swift, in her declaration, maintained that the lyrics of the song ‘Shake It Off’ were written by her. She stated that her parents did not allow her to watch MTV’s “Total Request Live” until she turned 13.
“I do not recall listening to any specific radio stations during that time, but when I listened to the radio, it was generally country music. I did not watch the MTV show ‘TRL,’ and I did not go to clubs during this time. The lyrics to ‘Shake It Off ‘also draw from commonly used phrases and comments heard throughout my life. Before writing ‘Shake It Off’ I had heard the phrases’ players gonna play,’ and ‘haters gonna hate’ uttered countless times,” she wrote in her court filing.
“Until learning about Plaintiffs’ claim in 2017, I had never heard the song ‘Playas Gon’ Play’ and had never heard of that song or the group 3LW,” Swift added.
The multiple Grammy award-winning singer further said she took lyrical inspiration from her life experiences.
“I just needed to shake off and focus on my music,” Swift wrote.
“With ‘Shake It Off,’ I wanted to provide a comedic, empowering approach to helping people feel better about negative criticism through music, dance, and the personal independence enabling one just to shake off the negative criticism,” she said.
