A certain Jesse Braham has lodged a legal complaint against Taylor Swift stating she plagiarized the lyrics to his song Haters Gon Hate for her hit, Shake It Off. The Grammy winning tune was released in 2014 – a year after Jesse released his less successful hit.
In Braham’s song, he sings: “Haters gone hater, playas gone play. Watch out for them fakers, they’ll fake you everyday.” He claims Swift stole the lyrics and wants $42million in compensation.
The case however could be dead in the water, Perez Hilton reports that artists cannot sue over such a short phrase. According to a legal source : “Mr. Braham, who is representing himself, cannot claim copyright protection for the phrases ‘haters gone hate’ and ‘playas gone play’ because the Copyright Act does not protect short phrases and these phrases are not original to him.
“In addition, and most damning to Mr. Braham’s claim, the two songs have absolutely nothing in common.”
This is the latest legal woe for Pennsylvania-born Taylor. On Wednesday the 25-year-old squared against a former Denver radio host who sued her after he said he lost his job because of accusations that he inappropriately touched her during a photo session.