Taylor Swift Shakes Off Copyright Claim Over Players, Haters

Pop singer Taylor Swift beat a copyright infringement lawsuit Feb. 13 when a federal trial court ruled that two short phrases in her 2014 single “Shake It Off” weren’t original or creative enough to merit protection.

Swift’s song shares only the lyrics “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate” with 2001’s “Playas Gon’ Play"—and that wasn’t enough for a lawsuit, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said.

The ideas of players and their playing are well-established in pop music, going back at least to Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 single “Dreams,” the court said.

The ruling shows copyright ...