Taylor Swift will be forced to defend herself against copyright claims before a jury after a federal judge ruled the lawsuit would go to trial.

Swift, 31, has been sued by composers Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, who claim that her 2014 hit "Shake It Off" took the lines from their 2001 song "Playas Gon 'Play", which was performed by 3LW girls group.

The case was previously dismissed by the judge, but the successful appeal means that the songwriters will have the opportunity to present their case in court.

Photo: WireImage

Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald allowed the case to go to trial after ruling that a jury had managed to find out that she had plagiarized the rows.

The verses 'players will play' and 'haters will hate' are presented in similar versions in each song.

Photo: Big Machine Records

He had previously determined that similar lines were too 'banal' to be considered copyright infringement, writes DailyMail.

He listed 13 songs from past decades, including "Fleetwood Mac Dreams" and The Notorious BIG's "Playa Hater," which included similar lines to support his claim.

Hall and Butler - who wrote "Playas Gon 'Play", initially filed their lawsuit in 2017, and after it was dismissed, they filed an appeal seeking a jury trial and damages.

Photo: Getty Images

In 2019, a federal appellate court reversed the original decision, ruling that Fitzgerald should not have dismissed it, and the case was returned to him.

This time, he rejected Swift's request for a summary judgment, a decision that she had not infringed on the songwriters' copyright.

The 3LW group was formed in 1999 with Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams and Naturi Naughton, and Jessica Benson joining the group after Naughton's departure in 2002.

The trio achieved a number of hits, including "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)", which reached 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 10 on the US Rhythm chart, and I Do (Wanna Get Close to You), which reached 58 in the "Hot 100" and 26 in the "Top 40".

Playas Gon 'Play also received an important broadcast, reaching 86th place in the "Hot 100" chart.

But the song's success was nothing compared to Swift's hit "Shake It Off", which topped the "Hot 100" and several other music charts after its release in 2014.

The song, which was written by Swift with producers Max Martin and Shellback (Karl Johan Schuster), was the lead single from her hit 1989 album.

According to Billboard, "Shake It Off is Swift's best-selling song to date.