Sean Hall and Nathan Butler’s copywrite lawsuit against Taylor Swift is headed to federal court. The lawsuit claims that Hall and Butler wrote a song in 2001 for 3LW that included the same lines “Players will play”
haters gonna hate,” that is also part of Swift’s 2014 hit “Shake It Off.” Hall and Butler have collectively written and produced songs for Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Backstreet Boys, and Luther Vandross.
Sean Hall and Nathan Butler appealed an initial ruling, and a federal court overturned the initial decision to return the case to Judge Fitzgerald.
“Although there are some notable differences between the works, There are also great similarities in word use and sequence/composition.”
The Judge added that “the court cannot currently determine whether any jury is reasonably able to find a significant similarity in lyrical formulation, word order or poetic structure between the two works.”
According to the Judge, the experts appointed by Swift presented “convincing arguments,” which were not enough to prevent the case from going to trial.
Fitzgerald, the Judge on the case, previously stated that “in the early 2000s, popular culture was so immersed in notions of gamblers and haters” that statements like “those who play… will play” or “those who hate… will hate” number Especially different from others such as “Runners will run”; or “swimmers go swimming.”
‘The concept of actors acting following their essential nature is not at all creative; it is banal,’ he wrote. ‘In sum, the lyrics at issue… are too brief, unoriginal, and uncreative to warrant protection under the Copyright Act.’
Attorney for Hall and Butler said the court ‘did the right thing.’
‘Our clients are finally moving closer to the justice they so richly deserve,’ said their attorney Marina Bogorad. ‘The opinion … is especially gratifying to them because it reinforces the idea that their creativity and unique expression cannot be misappropriated without any retribution.’
– Excerpt from an article for Daily Mail UK by Brian Marks. Read the full article here.
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