Singer/songwriter Taylor Swift responded on Monday to a lawsuit from two 3LW songwriters, claiming Swift lifted lyrics from one of their songs for her 2014 hit “Shake it Off,” which was written by Swift herself.
The songwriters first sued Swift in 2017 over the alleged plagiarism, but the case was dismissed. It’s now being rehashed on an appeal.
“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 responded in a legal document filed Monday. The country-turned-pop star added that she never listened to the tune “on the radio, on television, or in any film.”
The group 3LW released a hit called “Playas Gon’ Play” back in 2000 when Swift was just ten years old, and the song climbed the charts when the “Lover” singer was 11.
The 3LW song includes phrases like “playas gon’ play,” and “them haters gonna hate.” Swift’s “Shake it Off” lyrics include, “’cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play,” and “the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.”
Swift said she almost exclusively listened to country music growing up and wasn’t even allowed to watch MTV’s “Total Request Live” (TRL) — a show that would have aired “Playas Gon’ Play” — until she was about 13 years old.
“I did not watch the MTV show ‘TRL,’ and I did not go to clubs during this time,” the 32-year-old said. “The only concerts I went to were for country and folk rock singers, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Gilman and Melissa Etheridge. My parents limited what I could watch and listen to, and did not permit me to watch ‘TRL’ until I was about 13 years old.”
Moreover, Swift said that the phrases she’s being sued over are “commonly used.”
“Prior to writing ‘Shake It Off,’ I had heard the phrases ‘players gonna play’ and ‘haters gonna hate’ uttered countless times to express the idea that one can or should shrug off negativity,” she said. In 2013, she added, Swift purchased a t-shirt that said “haters gonna hate” from the popular store Urban Outfitters.
Andrea Swift, the songwriter’s mother, backed up her daughter’s claims in her own statement, saying she “carefully monitored both the television [Swift] watched and the music she heard,” The Guardian reported.
“Taylor did not attend sleepovers at friends’ houses as a young girl because we lived on a farm until she was 10 years old and I always preferred having friends come over to our home,” the 64-year-old added.
Source: Dailywire
