Taylor Swift is going to trial over accusations that she lifted lyrics from a 2000 song to write her song "Shake It Off."
The lawsuit claimed that Swift copied the lines "players gonna play" and "haters gonna hate" from a song written by Sean Hall and Nathan Butler.
The lawsuit was thrown out by a judge who said the lyrics were too banal to be copyrighted. The court reversed the ruling after Hall and Butler appealed it.
Swift was denied her request to do so again by the judge who originally dismissed the case.
There is a possibility that there is still a genuine dispute as to the potential substantial similarity between the lyrics of Swift's song and "Playas Gon' Play", according to Fitzgerald's ruling.
A jury trial date has not been set.
Peter Anderson did not respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit is not a crusade for all creatives, but a crusade for Mr. Hall's bank account.
The attorney for Hall and Butler said in a statement that they were "very satisfied" with the ruling.
It reinforces the idea that their unique self-expression based on the cultural heritage can't be taken away without proper credit. It is about time that justice should serve the merits rather than deep pockets, and we are pleased that the court refused to engage in a battle of the experts.
On Friday, 3LW posted on social media to clarify that they are not behind the lawsuit, and asked Swift's fans to stop yelling at them.
The group said there is love and respect for Taylor and her team. 3LW had nothing to do with this case. All hate should be directed elsewhere.
Swift has been sued before over her lyrics. Jesse Graham sued her for $42 million in 2015, claiming that Taylor Swift would not have written "Shake It Off" had he not written "Haters gone hate."
A judge cited a 2010 Urban Dictionary entry and 3LW's "Playas Gon' Play" as earlier examples of the term being used in dismissing the lawsuit. Graham's song was released.
Swift had a public battle with Big Machine Records, her former label, and Scooter Braun, a music manager who bought the company, for allegedly barring her from performing her songs. Swift asked her fans to let Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how they feel about it.
Big Machine said it continued to honor all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.
Swift said she would rerecord her first six albums. Red was widely acclaimed.
