Taylor Swift Shakes Off Copyright Claim Over Players, Haters

• Makers of 2001 release accused pop star of infringing lyrics

• Court finds idea of players playing well-established in pop music

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 ...