Respect -- This Federal Judge Knows Her Taylor Swift Lyrics

This judge isn't some vacuous fangirl; she's quoting the lyrics for a reason.

Let’s give it up for Central District of California Magistrate Judge Gail Standish. In a recent decision, she channeled her inner T. Swift and sprinkled her lyrics throughout the dismissal.

But Judge Standish isn’t some vacuous fangirl — see, the singer was the defendant in the case, a copyright action filed by musician Jessie Braham, who claimed lyrics from Swift’s hit “Shake It Off” (specifically the “haters gonna hate” part) were stolen from his song “Haters Gone Hate.”

Judge Standish disagreed, or at least felt his complaint did not rise above the speculative level, and dismissed the case without prejudice. But the legal posture of the case isn’t the glorious part — not by a long shot. As CNN reports, Judge Standish’s decision is littered with references to Swift’s oeuvre, including the break-up song allegedly written about Jake Gyllenhaal:

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.

And this gem which manages to mash up three different T. Swift tunes:

As currently drafted, the Complaint has a blank space — one that requires Braham to do more than write his name. And, upon consideration of the Court’s explanation… Braham may discover that mere pleading BandAids will not fix the bullet holes in his case. At least for the moment, Defendants have shaken off this lawsuit.

Can you name them all? Obvi “Shake It Off” is referenced, but so is Swift’s girl-squad epic “Bad Blood” and the tongue-in-cheek “Blank Space.”

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And with that I’ll leave you with one of the most pernicious earwigs of the last year — enjoy getting that out of your head.

Taylor Swift shake, shake, shakes off copyright lawsuit [CNN]

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