Taylor Swift has appealed against a decision to allow a trial over claims she stole lyrics used in her song Shake It Off.
Taylor Swift in trial over stolen lyrics claim
Lawyers for the US star want the court to revisit its decision to permit a trial and say the lyrics in question feature two phrases that are in the public domain and free for anyone to use.
Taylor Swift
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The US singer's lawyers called the decision "unprecedented" and asked that the ruling by a California judge is looked at again.
Sean Hall and Nate Butler who are songwriters allege that Swift's lyrics were stolen from their 2014 song Playas Gon' Play, performed by girl group 3LW.
The song includes the lyrics "players, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate".
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Swift sings, in Shake It Off, "The players gonna play, play, play, play, play, and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate."
Swift's lawyers say allowing a trial means the claimants could sue "everyone who writes, sings, or publicly says 'players gonna play' and 'haters gonna hate'." according to court filings obtained by Billboard.
Lawyers say permitting this ruling is unprecedented and cheats the public domain.
They say both songs use versions of "players gonna play" and "haters gonna hate" but both phrases are in the public domain and "free for everyone to use".
“The presence of versions of the two short public domain statements in both songs simply does not satisfy the extrinsic test," Lawyers add.
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According to these lawyers’ defendants respectfully request that the court revisit its ruling and apply the extrinsic test to the claimed substantial similarity in lyrics.
The case has been dragging on for years and in 2017, Swift's representatives called the songwriters' claim ridiculous and nothing more than a money grab.
It was thrown out in 2018 but the pair appealed and the case was revived.
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