Names and faces

Taylor Swift arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, in Newark, N.J. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Taylor Swift arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, in Newark, N.J. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Taylor Swift won't escape so easily after all from allegations that her 2014 hit "Shake It Off" illegally copied the lyrics of "Playas Gon' Play." The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Monday overturned a judge's ruling throwing out the copyright infringement lawsuit by the two songwriters of the 2001 track by the female group 3LW. The appeals court disagreed with the judge's conclusion that the lyrics -- "playas, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate" -- weren't original enough to be entitled copyright protection. It wasn't for the judge to decide the "worth of an expressive work," the appellate court said, citing a 1903 U.S. Supreme Court decision that cautioned those trained only in the law against making themselves final judges of creative works. The decision is a setback for hit makers fighting copyright lawsuits over smallish musical phrases that they argue aren't protected by the law. The same appellate court is weighing for the second time whether Led Zeppelin stole the opening chords of "Stairway to Heaven" from an obscure, 1968 instrumental track by a California band. A three-judge panel last year threw out a jury verdict favoring Led Zeppelin. In an unusual reconsideration by 11 judges, the court will examine whether to curtail lawsuits over seemingly trivial similarities.

• Grammy-winning gospel artist Kirk Franklin says he'll boycott the Gospel Music Association's Dove Awards after they edited out part of his acceptance speech earlier this month in which he called for prayers after a police shooting in his hometown of Fort Worth. Franklin posted a social media video on Monday that said he would no longer attend events associated with the Dove Awards, the Gospel Music Association or Trinity Broadcasting Network "until tangible plans are put into place to protect and champion diversity." The 50th annual awards show was held in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 15 and aired on Oct. 20 on TBN. "Not only did they edit my speech, they edited the African American experience," Franklin said. The gospel association apologized in a statement and said it was not their "intent to disregard or silence any of our artists." The association's statement said that because of the broadcast window, they had to significantly edit the show down to two hours. This is not the first time Franklin has criticized the show for editing his statements. In 2016 on the Dove Awards stage, he spoke about police brutality, but that speech was also edited when it aired on TBN.

photo

Invision

Kirk Franklin performs at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 23, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

A Section on 10/30/2019

Upcoming Events