3LW Member Kiely Williams Responds To Copyright Lawsuit Against Taylor Swift:We’re Not Suing Taylor Swift, Educate Your Fans!
3LW Member Kiely Williams Responds To Copyright Lawsuit Against Taylor Swift:We’re Not Suing Taylor Swift, Educate Your Fans!
3LW’s Kiely Williams has a few things to get off her chest!
The former 3LW member is now responding to the pending copyright lawsuit from 3LW writers against Taylor Swift. As previously reported, there is a 2017 copyright lawsuit against the pop singer claiming she stole the lyrics to her 2014 hit single “Shake It Off” from the 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play” by the R&B group.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit back in 2018, however, an appeals court resurrected it when it sent the lawsuit back to the district court in 2019. In December 2021, a judge ruled that the case was too close to call and would ultimately be decided by a jury trial. A court date has yet to be determined.
In a motion filed on Monday (Aug.8), Taylor Swift says
“The lyrics to ‘Shake It Off’ were written entirely by me.”
The “Blank Space” singer wrote:
“In writing the lyrics, I drew partly on experiences in my life and, in particular, unrelenting public scrutiny of my personal life, “clickbait” reporting, public manipulation, and other forms of negative personal criticism which I learned I just needed to shake off and focus on my music.”
Taylor continued,
“I recall hearing phrases about players play and haters hate stated together by other children while attending school in Wyomissing Hills, and in high school in Hendersonville. These phrases were akin to other commonly used sayings like “don’t hate the playa, hate the game,” “take a chill pill,” and “say it, don’t spray it.”
Now, Kiely Williams is stepping in to clarify a few things. It appears some of Taylor Swift’s fans are coming after 3LW over the lawsuit, and Kiely wants people to know she and her fellow group members have nothing to do with the suit. The “No More” singer took to Instagram Live to share a few words with her fans. She said,
“A person like her who knows the music industry should tell her fans and educate on the separation between the artist and the writer..We did not write ‘Playas Gon’ Play.’ I don’t care that she’s never heard of 3LW.. We made great albums, you should listen to them if you feel like going back to the 2000s R&B, but definitely educate your fans.”
Kiely continued,
“Now, I support Sean and Nate because if they feel as though they’ve been infringed upon, Okay cool, I want them to pursue whatever legal action that they feel they should. But me, I’m not in it…We didn’t write the song, we’re not suing Taylor Swift.”
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!