LOS ANGELES: Representatives for Taylor Swift on Tuesday rejected a copyright infringement lawsuit filed on Monday by two songwriters over Swift’s hit song “Shake It Off” as a “ridiculous claim.”
Songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler said in a lawsuit filed in US federal court in Los Angeles that Swift’s song used the phrase “players, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate,” that they had coined for a 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play” by R&B girl group 3LW.
Swift’s lyric from her 2014 hit “Shake It Off” is: “the players gonna play, play, play, play, play, and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.”
“This is a ridiculous claim and nothing more than a money grab,” Swift’s representatives said in a statement. “The law is simple and clear. They do not have a case.”
Hall and Butler are seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial.
Hall, a songwriter and producer for artists such as Justin Bieber and Maroon 5, and Butler, who has worked with artists such as Backstreet Boys and Luther Vandross, claimed that the combination of playas or players with hatas or haters was unique to its use in 3LW’s “Playas Gon’ Play.”
“In 2001 it was completely original and unique. Indeed, the combination had not been used in popular culture prior,” the lawsuit said.
Hall and Butler said the phrase accounts for about 20 percent of the lyrics of “Shake It Off.” They claimed that Swift and her team “undoubtedly had access to ‘Playas Gon’ Play’” before writing and releasing her song.
“Defendant Swift has admitted that she watched MTV’s TRL which promoted ‘Playas Gon’ Play,’” the lawsuit said.
It said “Playas Gon’ Play” debuted at No. 7 on MTV’s Total Request Live in March 2001 and that 3LW’s debut album sold more than 1 million copies.
Taylor Swift shakes off copyright lawsuit as ‘ridiculous’
Taylor Swift shakes off copyright lawsuit as ‘ridiculous’
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
