Taylor Swift is known to take copyright infringement pretty seriously. If there are pictures, videos or even music of hers posted without her consent, Taylor will snatch it down without warning. Could Ms. Swift be finally getting a taste of her own medicine? Quite possibly, since the pop star is being sued for $42 million over “Shake It Off.”
50 year old Jesse Braham, an R&B singer, says that Swift stole the lyrics for “Shake It Off” from a song he released in 2013 titled “Haters Gone Hate.” He’s asking for $42m, plus to be added to the writer’s credits of Taylor’s song. This is a smart move. This means he will be able to collects royalty checks until the day he dies.
Braham says that he has copyright ownership of “haters gone hate” and “playas gone play,” phrases that have obviously been used long before 2013. I mean, 3LW had a song titled “Playas Gone Play” back in 2001 and R. Kelly was singing about “Players gone play, Ballers gone ball,” when he dropped TP-2 back in 2000. Did 3LW or R.Kelly copyright the phrases, though? That’s another story.
In Mr Braham’s song, the chorus goes: “Haters gone hater, playas gone play/ Watch out for them fakers, they’ll fake you everyday.” In Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” the chorus goes: “Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play/ And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.” She sings another line: “And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake.” Could there be a case here?
“Her hook is the same hook as mine. If I didn’t write the song Haters Gone Hate, there wouldn’t be a song called Shake It Off,” Braham tells NY Daily News. “At first I was going to let it go, but this song is my song all the way.”
As much as I would love to see Taylor get a taste of her own medicine, Mr. Braham, please take a seat. Have several.
