MANILA, Philippines — Newly-wed Taylor Swift scored a legal victory after a Florida judge dismissed with prejudice a plagiarism lawsuit against the singer-songwriter.
Over a year ago, poet Kimberly Marasco sued Swift, producer Aaron Dessner, and labels Republic Records and Universal Music Group claiming Swift copied phrases from her works to be used in the award-winning artist’s songs.
United States District Judge Aileen Cannon threw out the case by pointing out Marasco’s poems “do not contain protectable expression” and she herself “failed to plausibly plead copying.”
The judge pointed to some of the claimed instances of plagiarism but said it was “a stretch to imagine the lines had enough similarity to make a plausible assumption” that Swift and the rest saw Marasco’s works.
She even noted Marasco admitted none of her poetry books were actively promoted, and one of them only sold 3,000 copies around the world.
One of the poet’s dozen claims was Swift’s “The Man” from 2019 copied her poem “Ordinary Citizen.” A later song, “The Great War,” was alleged to have copied a metaphor in Marasco’s “The Fire,” but Cannon was unconvinced even by similar allegations.
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Other Swift songs that Marasco claimed infringed on her poems were “Down Bad” and “I Can Do It with a Broken ?Heart,” both from 2024’s “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Cannon rather said the case was based on allegations that Swift appropriated “basic ideas and themes, ubiquitous metaphors, and isolated common words and short phrases,” none of which are properly protected by copyright law.
Even after Marasco amended her complaint, the judge still found “no allegations of direct evidence of copying” and either woman’s works were not even substantially similar.
Swift’s party said the lawsuit counted as “shotgun pleading,” which Cannon agreed with, pointing out references to Swift, Dessner, and the label collectively despite their different industry roles and some claims bundling works together.
Marasco has indicated that she will appeal the decision, but she she cannot amend the complaint further as Cannon dismissed it with prejudice.
Swift, meanwhile, will feel a little lighter following her marriage to NFL star Travis Kelce, whom she tied the knot with over the weekend in New York City.