Taylor Swift may have to convince a judge to shake off a $42 million copyright infringement lawsuit filed against her.
CNN reported Monday that musician Jessie Braham wants that hefty sum in damages, along with songwriting credit for her hit “Shake It Off,” because a significantly less catchy song he copyrighted in February 2013 features similar lyrics.
“Haters gone hate/playas gone play/watch out for them fakers/they’ll fake you everyday,” Braham sings in his slow jam, “Haters Gone Hate.”
Meanwhile, the hook in Swift’s catchy pop tune features lines including, “Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play/And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate… And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake.”
Braham’s song was posted onto YouTube in December 2013.
CNN reported that Braham filed the suit in federal court himself without an attorney, asking that the court waive his filing fees because he lost his job in 2006, and hasn’t had one since. The suit names both Swift and her record label, Sony.
Curious music fans have been flocking to hear the song for themselves since the news broke over the weekend.
“This sounds 0.4% the same as Taylor Swift,” one of the R&B track’s 389,116 viewers recently wrote in the comment section, which is filled with similar reactions.
“Lol this is nothing like taylors song. Nice try buddy. Haters gonna hate has been around forever (sic),” another viewer wrote.
Sony has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Listen to Braham’s song below.