Taylor Swift gives the concert crowd in Singapore something to remember. (Photo : Facebook)
Singer Taylor Swift won on Tuesday the $42 million copyright lawsuit filed last week by R&B singer Jesse Graham who claimed she copied the lyrics of "Shake It Off" from his 2013 song "Hater Gone Hate."
U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Central District of California Gail Standish ruled in favor of Swift and dismissed Graham's claim that she stole the lyrics "haters gonna hate" from his song. But it seems that the basis of the judge's ruling was not really on the merits of the case but on technicality, reports Mashable.
In the decision, Standish wrote, "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 II, 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."
Graham, who filed the lawsuit after Swift rejected his request for a selfie and credit as the song's writer, did not have any lawyer, explaining the blank space in his document. CNN reports that Graham also asked the court to waive the filing fees because he lost his job in 2006.
But even if the case did prosper, Swift has good chance of winning the lawsuit since a Google search showed that even before Graham wrote his 2013 song, the phrase "plays gonna play" and "haters gonna hate" were used by other songs ahead of him.
In his lawsuit, Graham claimed that 92 percent of "Shake It Off" were copied from his song. But the judge said he did not give enough factual evidence of his claim which were mere allegations on "a speculative level."
