Taylor Swift Responds To Copyright Claim: "Shake It Off Was Written Entirely By Me"

10 August 2022, 12:05 | Updated: 10 August 2022, 12:07

Taylor Swift has filed paperwork refuting the 'Shake It Off' plagiarism claims, stating that she wrote all the lyrics to the 2014 song.

Taylor Swift has addressed her latest copyright lawsuit and has denied stealing the lyrics for her mega-hit 'Shake It Off'.

The pop sensation has been sued by the writers of 'Playas Gon’ Play', a song released by the R&B girl group 3LW back in 2000.

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Taylor has defended her 2014 bop, which hails from her critically acclaimed album '1989', stating in paperwork filed in response to the allegation: “The lyrics to 'Shake It Off' were written entirely by me."

Songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler first sued the 32-year-old over the lyrical content back in 2017, claming similarities between the lines “playas gonna play” and “haters gonna hate” in the famous chorus.

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Billboard reports that the sworn declaration was filed on Monday (August 8), with Taylor refuting the claims with her response.

She wrote: "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."

The case was originally dismissed in 2018, with a judge stating that the lyrics were too commonplace to justify a copyright case, however, the ruling was appealed last year.

In defence of her songwriting she explained her lyrical process: "In writing the lyrics, I drew partly on experiences in my life and, in particular, unrelenting public scrutiny of my personal life, ‘clickbait’ reporting, public manipulation, and other forms of negative personal criticism which I learned I just needed to shake off and focus on my music."

The 'All Too Well' songstress continued: "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 should shrug off negativity.”

Swift also stated she was just 11-years-old when the song was released and she wasn't allowed to watch MTV until she was a teenager.

Multiple documents were submitted to the case on Monday, with Taylor's mother Andrea as well as her co-writers Max Martin and Shellback all declaring that they had never heard the 3LW track.

Taylor's team are working to clear Swift and her collaborators of infringement but is yet to get the case dismissed.

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