A $42 million lawsuit against Taylor Swift has been dismissed. Judge Gail Standish took Swift's side in the case, which heard R&B singer Jesse Braham (a.k.a. Jesse Graham) accuse the singer of stealing the lyrics to her 1989 hit "Shake It Off."
Braham's case was dropped due to insufficient factual evidence — though given Swift's ability to successfully fight Apple, it's not too surprising that she's come out on top of the relatively unknown Braham. The judge did point out that he could still file a new copyright complaint in the future.
Most entertaining of all, however, was the judge's wording in her dismissal of the case. Incorporating an expertly deployed selection of Swift's lyrics, Standish tried to let Braham down gently, writing: "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."
Read the full dismissal below for references to "Blank Space," "Bad Blood" and the song initially in question, "Shake It Off."
Braham's original suit alleged that Swift ripped off the lyrics for "Shake It Off" from his 2013 song "Haters Gone Hate," which features the lines: "Haters gonna hate / Players gonna play / Watch out for them fakers / They'll fake you every day."
Braham's case was dropped due to insufficient factual evidence — though given Swift's ability to successfully fight Apple, it's not too surprising that she's come out on top of the relatively unknown Braham. The judge did point out that he could still file a new copyright complaint in the future.
Most entertaining of all, however, was the judge's wording in her dismissal of the case. Incorporating an expertly deployed selection of Swift's lyrics, Standish tried to let Braham down gently, writing: "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."
Read the full dismissal below for references to "Blank Space," "Bad Blood" and the song initially in question, "Shake It Off."
A ridiculous Taylor Swift dismissal order is the only way to toss out a ridiculous Taylor Swift #copyright lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/5JAc7iAzVz
— Bill Donahue (@BDonahueLaw360) November 12, 2015Braham's original suit alleged that Swift ripped off the lyrics for "Shake It Off" from his 2013 song "Haters Gone Hate," which features the lines: "Haters gonna hate / Players gonna play / Watch out for them fakers / They'll fake you every day."
