Watch out Taylor Swift fans, your favorite song is accused of copyright infringement.
While Swift has her own way of doing things, maybe this is how she writes her catchy hits.
Jessie Braham, who records under the name Jessie Graham, hit Swift and SONY with a $42 million lawsuit for her hit song “Shake It Off.”
This is not an uncommon thing for the music industry as people often have similar ideas, but the power of Swift brought this suit to light. Fans everywhere are supporting Swift.
Braham says Swift’s lyrics are taken from his 2013 single, “Haters Gone Hate,” with the lyrics “Haters gone hate, playas gone play / watch out for them fakers, they’ll fake you everyday.”
While these do seem like common themes, was this not the theme of that time? Swift was ridiculed in 2014 for her whining sound and constant heartbreak. She’s known for writing about her infamous breakups. This song was written to empower not only herself but others.
Swift released “Shake It Off” in 2014, and while it was a year after Braham’s release, there’s no evidence she could’ve stolen these lyrics.
If you take a look at Braham’s YouTube account, where he releases his new beats, he has 215 subscribers. The interesting part is that while his songs may have a few thousand views, his song “Haters Gone Hate” is now approaching 1.5 million hits.
This could all be a ploy for the artist to make a name for himself. Honestly, he isn’t a large household name like Swift. This may not be an attempt for legal justice, instead it could be an artist looking for his five seconds of fame and a little bit of money.
The whole lawsuit could be avoided. When Braham began to notice the coincidences in the singer’s hooks, he came to her with an initial plea. He wanted a picture with Swift and writing credits on the song “Shake It Off.” Swift and her company denied this, and Braham continued with the lawsuit.
Braham may not have thought about was how copyright’s fair use doctrine protects Swift. This was incorporated into the Copyright Act of 1976, which states fair use “promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances,” according to copyright.gov.
This could just be a blip on Swift’s worldwide radar, but it doesn’t mean she has nothing else to worry about.
This isn’t the only suit filed to the singer. She was sued by Colorado DJ David Mueller for being fired after Swift accused him of groping her. And she filed a counter suit to him.
Swift accused Mueller of this after an incident took place during a photo session on June 2, 2013, when they were taking a picture before Swift went on to perform at Denver’s Pepsi Center. He was then fired from his hosting job at 98.5 KYGO’s “Ryno and Jackson.”
Swift is going to be stuck in a few legal arguments for a while. Although Swift is the perfect target for criticism and legal attacks, the lawsuits could be much worse. The singer stands up for what she believes in, and with that comes disagreements.
In the end, no matter what Swift is put through, she has a team of professionals behind her. She is signed to SONY, and she has enough money to buy the best lawyers. I wish the best of luck to whomever decides to go face to face with this American sweetheart.
As all things that happen to Swift, she will get through this with the least amount of drama and hurt as possible. Also, to look at a silver lining, she might even write a song about it.
Brittany Hagoort is an 18-year-old English sophomore from Tucson, Arizona. You can reach her on Twitter @Brittanyhagoort.