# Taylor Swift sued by 3LW songwriters for allegedly stealing lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 11, 2022, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507 "2022-08-11T20:45:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/1 "2022-08-11T20:45:30Z")
Taylor Swift is being sued by the band 3LW for allegedly stealing the lyrics of her song “Shake It Off” from the latter’s 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play”. (I guess we’re copyrighting the words “Playas gonna play and haters gonna hate” now? As if a zillion people don’t say that?) Here’s a comparison, so you can judge for yourself. > **[Taylor Swift claims she never heard Playas Gon' Play amid Shake it Off lawsuit](https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2022/08/09/lyrics-of-3lws-playas-gon-play-and-taylor-swifts-shake-it-off-compared/)** > > Taylor Swift has claimed in a sworn declaration that she did not copy the lyrics of Playas Gon' Play by 3WL for her own song Shake It Off. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/2 "2022-08-11T20:52:11Z")
Judging by the printed lyrics, she’s in the clear. I thought there might be some similarity in how it sounded, but that seems not to be the accusation. (From the 30 seconds I spent reading the link. I have not delved deeply into the issue.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/3 "2022-08-11T20:53:04Z")
The song in question peaked at 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in 2001. Taylor Swift was about 12 years old at the time. I think the argument that she’s never heard the song before is very plausible, and it will probably be impossible for 3LW to prove otherwise. And without doing that, they have no case. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/4 "2022-08-11T20:58:34Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Taylor Swift is being sued by the band 3LW for allegedly stealing the lyrics of her song “Shake It Off” from the latter’s 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play”. Just to clarify, she is not being sued by 3LW. She’s being sued by the song’s writers, who are not members of the band 3LW. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/5 "2022-08-11T21:00:15Z")
Yeah, I just can’t buy it. The similar lines are just too common and easily written a phrasing for me to not believe Swift’s side of this. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/6 "2022-08-11T21:13:19Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > I guess we’re copyrighting the words “Playas gonna play and haters gonna hate” now “Haters gonna hate” is a saying that surely predates either song? So far as I know, “players gonna play” is not. But for anyone who uses the established saying in their lyrics, the idea of repeating the structure VERBers gonna VERB seems so obvious that without any other similarity this claim of plagiarism is very weak. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/7 "2022-08-11T21:25:14Z")
This has been going on for a while now. I don’t think that the lyrics in question are eligible for copyright protection, and if I recall the case correctly, the court has so far agreed with me. To put it this way: there has to be a modicum of originality and creativity before something can receive copyright protection. Playing is literally what players do, and hating is literally what haters do, so there’s no creativity there. Players gonna play and Haters gonna hate have been around in various forms since forever, so there’s no originality there, either. More here: > **[Taylor Swift taken to court again over Shake it Off copyright lawsuit](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/taylor-swift-shake-it-off-lawsuit-court-appeal-lyrics-plagiarism-a9175431.html)** > > Swift was accused in 2018 of ripping off chorus to 2001 single by 3LW ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/8 "2022-08-11T21:45:38Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Just to clarify, she is not being sued by 3LW. She’s being sued by the song’s writers, who are not members of the band 3LW . I sit corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/9 "2022-08-31T02:25:05Z")
The “original” lyrics are so awful, you’d think the people suing would be embarrassed to admit having written them. Not that the lyrics to Swift’s song are much better. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/10 "2022-08-31T05:45:39Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@ekedolphin](#): > > > > I guess we’re copyrighting the words “Playas gonna play and haters gonna hate” now ⁢ > > “Haters gonna hate” is a saying that surely predates either song? So far as I know, “players gonna play” is not. > > But for anyone who uses the established saying in their lyrics, the idea of repeating the structure VERBers gonna VERB seems so obvious that without any other similarity this claim of plagiarism is very weak. ⁢ Your second paragraph is why I heavily doubt the first. Surely someone else would have thought of it before that song. And, yeah, this lawsuit is nonsense regardless. A three word phrase is too short for copyright, and it does not seem to have been trademarked. This seems to be people continuing to hope for dumb rulings every since the ridiculous “Blurred Lines” ruling. But the courts have already pulled back from this. In fact, I’m pretty sure Taylor Swift was involved in a previous attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/11 "2022-08-31T06:19:43Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But the courts have already pulled back from this. In fact, I’m pretty sure Taylor Swift was involved in a previous attempt. I think you might be thinking of the Katy Perry case. [https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/katy-perry-defeats-appeal-dark-horse-plagiarism-case-2022-03-10/](https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/katy-perry-defeats-appeal-dark-horse-plagiarism-case-2022-03-10/) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-sued-by-3lw-songwriters-for-allegedly-stealing-lyrics/969507/12 "2022-08-31T06:26:10Z")
You may be correct.