'Haters Gonna Hate': Copyright Infringement Trial Looms Before Taylor Swift

The case in question was previously rejected by the judge who argued that the lyrics were too brief, unoriginal, and uncreative to warrant protection under the Copyright Act."

Famous American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift is facing trial over allegations that she stole lyrics from a song by another group, the BBC reports.

According to the media outlet, the allegations are related to the apparent similarities between Swift’s 2014 song “Shake It Off,” which became one of her biggest-selling singles, and a 2001 song called “Playas Gon' Play” by girl group 3LW.

While both tracks seem to feature variations of the phrases "players gonna play" and "haters gonna hate," District Judge Michael W Fitzgerald previously rejected the case, citing some 13 previous songs that “featured similar phrases.”

"In the early 2000s, popular culture was adequately suffused with the concepts of players and haters to render the phrases 'playas… gonna play' or 'haters… gonna hate', standing on their own, no more creative than 'runners gonna run'; 'drummers gonna drum'; or 'swimmers gonna swim,'" the judge wrote in the ruling.

He argued that “the lyrics at issue... are too brief, unoriginal, and uncreative to warrant protection under the Copyright Act."

His decision, however, has since been reversed by the federal court following an appeal by songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, and the case ended up being sent back to Fitzgerald.

This week, the judge refused to dismiss the case, stating that there are “some noticeable differences between the works, there are also significant similarities in word usage and sequence/structure."

Judge Fitzgerald further noted that "the court cannot presently determine that no reasonable juror could find substantial similarity of lyrical phrasing, word arrangement, or poetic structure between the two works".

The date of the upcoming trial is yet to be announced, the media outlet adds.