Taylor Swift Wins Lawsuit That Claimed She Stole Song Lyrics From Jesse Braham For ‘Shake It Off’

A California judge, U.S. District Judge Gail Standish dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Taylor Swift.

Artist Jesse Braham was suing Swift for $42 million for allegedly stealing his lyrics for the hit song “Shake It Off.”

Judge Gail Standish had fun with some of the lyrics from Swift’s songs as she quoted them and dismissed the lawsuit.

Braham told the court that his song, “Haters Gone Hate,” had the same 22-word phrase that Swift had in the song “Shake it Off”. Braham claims that “Haters Gone Hate” was copyrighted in February 2013. Braham also told the court that 92 percent of Taylor Swift’s lyrics came from his song and that she used the hook phrase more than 70 times in her song.

Braham’s suit claimed that if Jesse Braham had not written the song “Haters gone hate,” then Taylor Swift would not have written a song called “Shake It Off.”

Taylor Swift’s lyrics go like this: “cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play. And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate” as well as “And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake.” Swift released this song on her hit album 1989 in 2004.

Braham’s song lyrics go like this: “Haters gone hate, playas gone play. Watch out for them fakers, they’ll fake you everyday.”

Braham did not have an attorney when he went to court. He asked the court to waive the filing fees, saying he has not had a job since 2006. He asked for 42 million in damages from Taylor Swift and her record company, Sony. Braham also asked the court to grant them a songwriter credit.

Braham’s lawsuit was handwritten, contained blank pages, had grammatical errors, misspellings, and was not produced professionally, according to Judge Standish.

U.S. District Judge Gail Standish wrote, “At present, the court is not saying that Braham can never, ever, ever get his case back in court. But, for now, we have got problems, and the court is not sure Braham can solve them. As currently drafted, the complaint has a blank space – one that requires Braham to do more than write his name. And, upon consideration of the court’s explanation in part two, Braham may discover that mere pleading band-aids will not fix the bullet holes in his case. At least for the moment, defendants have shaken off this lawsuit.”

“Blank Space“ is also a hit song by Swift.

Judge Standish ruled that Braham did not provide the court with enough factual evidence for her to rule on his behalf and told him his allegations did not rise above a speculative level.

She told Braham that he would be given another opportunity to file again once his lawsuit deficiencies are corrected.

Braham is an R&B singer who runs a non-denominational church called New Day Worldwide.

This court case is just one of several cases she has won recently. She just got done settling a trademark dispute with a clothing company over her use of the number 13 on clothing.

Taylor Swift has been named the highest-paid musician in the world by Daily Mail. They estimated her earnings are over $1 million a day.

Daily Mail also reported that Swift has earned around $317 million since January from her music, her world tours, and her endorsement deals.

A lot of Taylor’s success has come from her hugely popular fifth album 1989, which sold 1.3 million copies the first week that it was released in October last year.

Besides her music success, Swift also has a long line of endorsements worth millions with Elizabeth Arden, Diet Coke, and the footwear company Keds.

Taylor Swift ranked eighth on the Forbes magazine’s Celebrity 100 List earlier this year.

“I think for me it feels very natural to talk to teenagers and people my age…about feelings and what they’re going through and their insecurities,” she told Access Hollywood.

Swift has a knack for confiding in her fans, which has undoubtedly made her one of the most popular singers in the world.

For now, she can keep “Shake It Off.”

What do you think? Do you think Taylor Swift stole the lyrics from Jesse Braham?

(photo via: shutterstock)