BBC
Texas
A judge in America has thrown out a lawsuit against Taylor Swift, quoting the lyrics to some of her biggest songs.
The singer was being sued for £27 million for allegedly stealing the lyrics for her song Shake It Off. US R&B singer Jesse Braham claims Swift stole the words from a song he wrote in 2013 called Haters Gone Hate.
But US district court judge Gail Standish disagreed and took up the chance to show off her Swifty fandom. In a written statement dismissing the suit, Standish lifted lyrics from We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Blank Space and Bad Blood. “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,” Standish wrote. The judge ruled that Braham didn’t provide enough evidence and said for now, the claim’s just speculation. “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,” Standish wrote. However, Braham will be able to file a new complaint if he can sort out some of the problems the judge had with this one. “At least for the moment, Defendants have shaken off this lawsuit,” Standish concluded.
Braham had previously told the New York Daily News he believed there was “no way” Swift could have penned the lyrics independently of his song. “Her hook is the same hook as mine. If I didn’t write the song Haters Gone Hate, there wouldn’t be a song called Shake It Off,” he said. He added he’d spoken to Swift’s record label, Big Machine, four or five times about the issue. He originally asked to be named as a writer and requested a selfie with the pop star but was repeatedly dismissed and told his claim had no merit. “At first I was going to let it go, but this song is my song all the way,” he said.