Taylor Swift Lyrics Cleverly Quoted by Judge While Dismissing $42 Million Lawsuit Against Her

Taylor Swift’s lyrics can be used for more than just love songs!

United States District Court Judge Gail Standish recently dismissed singer Jesse Braham’s $42 million lawsuit, which alleged that Swift’s 2014 hit, “Shake It Off,” had stolen the lyrics, “Haters gone hate, playas gone play. Watch out for them fakers, they’ll fake you everyday,” from his own 2013 song, “Haters Gone Hate.” But it’s how Standish worded her conclusion in the official court documents that’s raising some eyebrows.

The California judge used well-known phrases from some of Swift’s tunes, such as “Bad Blood” and “Blank Space,” to explain why she’s dismissing the case.

“At present, the Court is not saying that Braham can never, ever, ever get his case back in court,” the conclusion reads. “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 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.”’

Braham claims in the lawsuit that Swift “would not have written 'Shake It Off’ had he not written 'Haters Gone Hate,’ and that "92% of the lyrics” of “Shake It Off” come from his song. He was seeking $42 million in damages, as well as the addition of his and his publisher’s name to future copies for sale.

However, the court disagreed on Tuesday.

“Having reviewing the lyrics of both songs, the Court has been unable to identify a 22-word phrase that constitutes 92% of the lyrics of 'Shake It Off’ or that is repeated 70 times as Braham alleges,” the court documents read.

Braham, however, is not prohibited from attempting to file his lawsuit again with a new complaint.