Taylor Swift to face trial in ‘Shake It Off’ copyright case 

A federal judge ruled that Taylor Swift must face a jury trial over accusations that she stole the lyrics of her record-breaking song “Shake It Off” from another song.

As per details, the song is accused to be taken from “Playas” and “haters.” 

The case against Swift was filed in 2017 by Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, the songwriters who wrote “Playas Gon’ Play.” 

The song ultimately spent 50 weeks on the Hot 100.

In 2018, Judge Fitzgerald dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that Hall and Butler’s lyrics were merely “short phrases that lack the modicum of originality and creativity required for copyright protection.” 

The judge further cited 13 different earlier songs that featured similar phrases, including “Playa Hater” by The Notorious B.I.G. and “Man U Luv to Hate” by Sir Mix-A-Lot.  

However, songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler appealed against the ruling and a federal appeals court reversed his decision. 

That sent the case back to Judge Fitzgerald. Swift asked for a summary judgment - an immediate ruling that she had not infringed copyright - but on Thursday, he refused. 

The judge said Swift’s defense would present “a strong closing argument” for an eventual jury trial, but that she would still need to face one.

The date for the trial has yet to be announced. 

The song released in 2001, the line was “playas, they gonna play” and “haters, they gonna hate”; in Swift’s track, she sings, “‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate”.

‘Shake It Off’ debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 2014 and spent four weeks atop the chart.