December 21, 2022
The lawsuit that had accused Taylor Swift of stealing the lyrics to her hit song "Shake It Off" will be the subject of an CNN documentary that premieres Friday.
Produced for CNN FlashDocs, "Taking On Taylor Swift" uses the 2017 lawsuit to examine larger questions about the role of creator ownership and plagiarism in the music industry. Plaintiffs Sean Hall and Nathan Butler — the songwriters responsible for R&B trio 3LW's song, "Playas Gon' Play" in 2001 – claimed that Swift had lifted the chorus of "Shake It Off" straight from their song. In particular, Hall and Butler took issue with the pop singer's use of the lines "players gonna play" and "haters gonna hate," which they argues they had coined in the early 2000s.
In September, U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald ruled Swift would stand trial for copyright infringement. Then case was dropped on Dec. 12 at the joint request from lawyers from Swift, Hall and Butler, just about a month before the trial was set to begin. There was nothing disclosed about a settlement between the two sides.
"Taking on Taylor Swift" debuts CNN.com, CNNgo, and all other digital platforms at 9 p.m. Friday before being made available for on-demand viewing on Christmas Eve.
The copyright infringement lawsuit became the focal point of an ever-evolving debate about the limits of songwriting credits and ownership in popular music. The debate arguably began with a lawsuit involving Robin Thicke's 2013 hit, "Blurred Lines," when Marvin Gaye's estate sued and won a copyright claim.
In their lawsuit, Hall and Butler argued Swift's hit song infringed upon "Playas Gon' Play," which peaked at No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its release in 2001. The songwriters said Swift's lyrics were too similar to theirs for it to be a coincidence and sought monetary damages.
This Friday, @CNN FlashDocs will investigate the copyright lawsuit against #TaylorSwift for her hit song “Shake it Off” in Taking On Taylor Swift, featuring an exclusive interview with plaintiff and songwriter Sean Hall. Tune in at 9pm ET.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) December 20, 2022
More here: https://t.co/XlUO23pInS pic.twitter.com/O0Q7HVfOPx
"When I first heard 'Shake It Off,' when the hook started, it felt like how a person feels when their house has been robbed," Hall says in a teaser for documentary. The CNN FlashDoc is the first time Hall speaks out about the lawsuit since making the decision to sue Swift in 2017.
The hour-long documentary delves further into the debate over music ownership, utilizing insights from songwriters like Tayla Parx and Kandi Burruss, as well as prominent music journalists and commentators from Variety, NPR, Vox, and the Los Angeles Times.
Swift's primary argument was that she'd never heard 3LW's song and was not familiar with the band or its catalog. In her lawyer's arguments to the judge, Swift cited other examples of the phrases used in songs by Eric Church, while Fitzgerald used examples from Fleetwood Mac and Notorious B.I.G. as repeated examples of the simple phrases being used in popular music over the last several decades.
"In writing the lyrics, I drew partly on experiences in my life and, in particular, unrelenting public scrutiny of my personal life, 'clickbait' reporting, public manipulation, and other forms of negative personal criticism which I learned I just needed to shake off and focus on my music," Swift said in a court document obtained by Rolling Stone. "Prior to writing 'Shake It Off,' I had heard the phrases 'players gonna play' and 'haters gonna hate' uttered countless times to express the idea that one should shrug off negativity."
In multiple court filings, Swift stated that she would not have had the opportunity to hear the R&B trio's song, as it did not remain on the Billboard chart for a long time. Although it was featured on MTV's Total Request Live, Swift told the court that she was unable to watch the program until she was 13 years old, two years after the song was released.
