In response to accusations that she plagiarized lyrics from 3LW for her popular song, "Shake It Off," Taylor Swift has shot back. According to USA Today, the pop diva reacted to the copyright case brought forth by Nathan Butler and Sean Hall, the creators of the 2000 song by 3LW called "Playas Gon' Play," who alleged that Swift had appropriated words from the tune for her smash track.
Swift claimed that the song's lyrics "were written solely by me" in her updated answer to the case, which she submitted on Monday. Additionally, she said that she had never heard of 3LW until 2017, the year she was first sued. Before learning about Plaintiffs' claim in 2017, I had never heard the song "Playas Gon' Play" or the band 3LW. She said that she was prohibited from watching MTV's Total Request Live until she turned 13 years old. Swift was ten years old when 3LW's "Playas Gon' Play" was released.
"I don't remember tuning in to any particular radio stations around that period, but the music I heard on the radio was often country. I didn't go to clubs or watch the MTV show "TRL" at this period "admitted Swift. "Shake It Off's lyrics are also influenced by frequent sayings and remarks I've heard throughout the course of my life. I had heard the proverbs "players going to play" and "haters going to hate" innumerable times before I wrote "Shake It Off.""
The "unrelenting public scrutiny of my personal life, 'clickbait' reporting, public manipulation, and other types of harsh personal criticism," Taylor continued, served as the song's inspiration.
With "Shrug It Off," she continued, "I wanted to offer a humorous, empowering way to helping people feel better about harsh criticism through music, dance, and the individual freedom enabling one to just shake off the bad critique."
Butler and Hall claimed that Swift's "Shake It Off" violated 3LW's "Playas Gon' Play" ("The playas gon' play/Them haters going to hate" & "Playas, they going to play/And haters, they going to hate") in one line ("Cause the players going to play, play, play, play, play/And the haters going to hate, hate, hate, hate, hate").
Taylor Swift's lawsuit has been litigated in and out of court. A first case was filed in 2017, but the accusations were "too" strong, and the judge rejected it the following year. When the case was eventually reintroduced to court, the judge rejected Swift's plea to dismiss it because he believed there were "enough objective parallels."
The 10 Worst Cases of Music Plagiarism Ever
The well-known English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran declares that enough is enough after winning a case alleging musical theft on April 6.
Following his victory in a London court, he said in a YouTube video that musicians are subjected to an excessive number of lawsuits from other musicians and songwriters. He claimed that the primary purpose of these proceedings, "even if there is no basis for the allegation," is to reach a financial settlement.
Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue filed a lawsuit against Ed Sheeran and the other co-writers of the 2017 hit song "Shape of You," claiming that Sheeran's song's "Oh I" refrain was lifted verbatim from Chokri's 2015 song "Oh Why." After determining that Sheeran "neither willfully nor unconsciously" copied, High Court Justice Antony Zacaroli, however, rejected the claim.
Songs immediately get copyright protection whenever they are written in both the UK and the US. A songwriter must demonstrate that the accused copycat accomplished both of two things in order to prove that their music was stolen.
- Before they composed their own song, they must have had access to the original.
- The music that is being plagiarized must sound very similar to the original.
It is challenging for plaintiffs to win in cases involving musical plagiarism because of those two prerequisites, yet that is what transpired in Zacaroli's decision. The judge noted that musical coincidences "are not unusual" and that Chokri's song was "far from an evident source" for Sheeran's.
However, Sheeran noted: "Pop music uses a relatively limited number of chords and tones. Coincidences are unavoidable if Spotify adds 60,000 songs daily.
The decision was comparable to one where a federal appeals court in the United States dismissed a claim that pop star Katy Perry had stolen lyrics from rapper Flame's song "Joyful Noise" for use in a portion of her popular song "Dark Horse."
Top 10:
Over the years, there have been several such instances of musical "plagiarism." In light of Sheeran's victory, this is a wonderful moment to look back on some of the most intriguing cases in history:
1- The Chiffons v. Harrison
With "My Sweet Lord," the ex-Beatle had a big hit in 1970. The song's tune was reminiscent of The Chiffons' 1963 smash, "He's So Fine." In response to a lawsuit by the song's author, Ronnie Mack, a U.S. District Court determined that Harrison had "subconsciously" used Mack's melody, but also stated that the two songs were "essentially similar," and it subsequently ordered Harrison to pay $587,000.
2 - The Beach Boys vs Chuck Berry
Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys never disputed that "Surfin' USA," the group's first huge smash, was anything other than an homage to rock and roll icon Chuck Berry and his song "Sweet Little Sixteen." The Beach Boys gave Berry the publication rights to "Surfin' U.S.A." in 1963 when Berry, whom they admired, threatened legal action.
3 - Burger King v. Slipknot
This might be the second-weirdest case involving music copyright. Burger King ran an advertising campaign in promotion of its new Chicken Fries product in 2005 that featured the fictitious metal band Coq Roq. The band Slipknot, known for its members' usage of eerie masks, vowed to sue BK on the grounds that the advertisements violated the group's trademark. The Coq Roq boys were sporting hilariously silly chicken masks, but somehow Slipknot wasn't put off. When sane judgment was reached, Slipknot decided not to pursue the action.
4 - John Fogerty vs Fantasy
The oddest music copyright case in recorded history may be this one. "The Old Man Down the Road," a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival's former front man John Fogerty, became a huge solo smash. Fantasy, CCR's former record company, filed a lawsuit because it was too similar to the band's previous song "Run Through the Jungle." The surprising fact is that Fogerty penned "Run Through the Jungle" by himself. He needed to demonstrate that he wasn't sounding too much like himself. In order to prove the distinctions between the two songs, he played his guitar in court and won.
5 - Oasis v. The New Seekers
The upbeat song "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" by The New Seekers from 1971 was reminiscent of Oasis' 1994 hit "Shakermaker" from their debut album. Strangely, the old song was originally supposed to be a Coca-Cola ad, and Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher wrote the song as an homage to the culture of his own youth. The New Seekers didn't care, and Oasis resolved the dispute for an estimated $500,000 without a fight.
6 - David Bowie and Queen vs Vanilla Ice
In 1981, David Bowie and Queen collaborated on the number-one hit song "Under Pressure." The bass riff from that song was sampled nine years later in rapper Vanilla Ice's song "Ice Ice Baby." Bowie and Queen filed a lawsuit, and the rapper eventually settled for an unknown fee.
7 - Howard Kaylan v. De La Soul - Mark Volman
The opening four bars of the Turtles song "You Showed Me" from 1969 were sampled in the 1989 hip-hop song "Transmitting Live From Mars" by the group De La Soul. The Turtles' portion of De La Soul's album "Three Feet High and Rising" was allowed to include samples from other artists, but it slipped through the gaps. Turtles members Volman and Kaylan filed a lawsuit, and the matter was eventually resolved for an estimated $1.7 million.
8 - Radiohead vs. Albert Hammond vs. Lana Del Ray
Due to similarities between the songs "Get Free" by American singer Lana Del Ray and their first huge success, "Creep," alternative music pioneers Radiohead threatened legal action against Lana Del Ray in 2018. Despite Del Ray's assertion that she had been sued, Radiohead's publishers asserted that no such case had ever been brought. Del Ray then declared the legal matter to be "finished" without providing any additional details. The ironic twist: Because Creep sounds so much like Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood's song "The Air That I Breathe," a smash for The Hollies in the 1970s, they successfully sued Radiohead for plagiarism. Creep's co-writers are now listed as Hammond and Hazlewood.
9 - Marvin Gaye v. Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams
The song "Blurred Lines," written by rapper T.I. and singer Pharrell Williams, was released in 2013 by singer-songwriter Robin Thicke. It reminded me a lot of Marvin Gaye's 1977 song "Got to Give It Up," which is a classic of R&B and soul. Gaye's family filed a lawsuit and won when a judge ordered them to pay $5 million to Gaye's estate in 2018.
10 - Ed Sheeran vs. Marvin Gaye
Yes, those two once more. The 1973 Gaye song "Let's Get It On," co-written by the late producer Ed Townsend, was released. Townsend's estate filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement after Sheeran's 2016 hit song "Thinking Out Loud" became popular. 2017 saw the dismissal of that lawsuit. A different entity, though, filed a $100 million lawsuit against Sheeran in 2018 alleging partial ownership of the song's copyright. A judge rejected Sheeran's plea to dismiss in March 2021.
