Taylor Swift's battle with her old record label, Big Machine, over her performance at the AMAs should be over, but it's not, and the big question ... why is she still reluctant to sing her old songs?

Taylor has been angry at Big Machine and Scooter Braun over ownership of the masters of her first 6 albums. She claimed last week BM was withholding permission for her to sing her old hits, but the label fired back saying she can perform anything she wants during a live broadcast.

Our Taylor sources said that wasn't enough because Dick Clark Productions -- which produces the AMAs and rebroadcasts/repurposes the show -- has to get permission from BM. Then on Monday, BM announced it worked out a licensing deal with Dick Clark Productions so Taylor could sing all her old songs.

Taylor's people then complained that there couldn't be an agreement without notifying her camp in writing of the licensing agreement. That was done Monday, so all should be good. But, it's not.

Now, we're told Taylor may not have enough time to incorporate the old songs in her performance, because such rehearsals take at least a month. Here's the issue ... she told her fans last Thursday she had been planning to perform her old songs, so if she was planning to, you would think she would have rehearsed with them.

On top of that, we're told Taylor wasn't rehearsing in L.A. this past weekend ... she was at her apartment in London so it would seem she's locked and loaded.

So the question ... will you hear "Shake It Off" at the AMAs? The jury is out, but we're not betting on it.