'Shake It Off' singer Taylor Swift has faced copyright lawsuit when singer Jessie Braham filed a complaint saying that Taylor ripped off a phrase from his song in 2013. He also claims that 92 percent of Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" came from his song, "Hater Gonna Hate."
According to edition.cnn.com, the phrase in question was "haters gonna hate" from Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" released in 2014. Fortunately for Taylor Swift, United States District Court Judge Gail Standish had already dismissed the case against the pop star and playfully used Taylor Swift songs' lyrics in announcing the decisions.
She said "At present, the Court is not saying that Braham can never, ever, ever get his case back in court. But, for now, we have got problems, and the Court is not sure Braham can solve them."
"As currently drafted, the Complaint has a blank space -- one that requires Braham to do more than write his name. And, upon consideration of the Court's explanation ... Braham may discover that mere pleading BandAids will not fix the bullet holes in his case. At least for the moment, Defendants have shaken off this lawsuit."
Taylor's "Shake It Off" has the lyrics: "Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play. And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate," as well as "And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake," while Braham's "Haters Gonna Hate has the lyrics: "Haters gone hate, playas gone play. Watch out for them fakers, they'll fake you every day."
In a report by dailymail.co.uk, Standish ruled out the case of Braham against Taylor because the former was not able to "provide enough factual evidence in the case and that his allegations did not rise above a speculative level."
Braham filed the complaint without a lawyer in federal court. The singer was demanding $42 million for damages from Taylor and her record label, Sony in addition to songwriter credits. Due to unemployment since 2006, Braham "asked the court to waive various filing fees."
Despite of the dismissal of his case, Standish said that he can still file another complaint given that the "lawsuit deficiencies" have been settled.
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