She finally shook it off.
A copyright infringement lawsuit against Taylor Swift over her hit song "Shake It Off" has reportedly been dropped just one month before it was set to go to trial.
Swift and songwriters Nathan Butler and Sean Hall reached an agreement and asked a judge to dismiss the case "in its entirety," Variety reports. Terms of the agreement were not immediately clear.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The songwriters first sued Swift in 2017, alleging she stole lyrics from the 3LW song "Playas Gon' Play" for "Shake It Off." Both songs feature variations of the phrases "players gonna play" and "haters gonna hate."
Butler and Hall argued these phrases were "completely original and unique" when they wrote the 2001 song, even if they "may seem like common parlance today." But in court documents, Swift maintained she "never heard the song 'Playas Gon' Play and had never heard of that song or the group 3LW" until the lawsuit. She also said that the phrases in question are "akin to other commonly used sayings."
A judge dismissed the case in 2018, saying the "allegedly infringed lyrics are short phrases that lack the modicum of originality and creativity required for copyright protection." But an appeals court revived it in 2019. A trial was scheduled for January. This would have set the stage for another high profile copyright infringement decision after a judge ruled that Ed Sheeran did not plagiarize his hit song "Shape of You."
The court victory comes as Swift's quest to re-record her old music to gain control of the master recordings continues. Some fans have speculated she has not yet re-recorded the album 1989, which features "Shake It Off," so as not to interfere with this litigation. If that's the case, the dismissal could potentially set the stage for 1989 (Taylor's Version) — as if she doesn't already have enough on her plate.
-
September 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
10 upcoming albums to stream during spooky seasonThe Week Recommends As fall arrives, check out new albums from Taylor Swift, Jeff Tweedy, the Lemonheads and more
-
The most notable records Taylor Swift has brokenIn Depth The pop star has cemented herself as one of the century's most popular artists
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
