Taylor Swift had a plagiarism lawsuit filed against her by a Florida poet dismissed with prejudice.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the lawsuit filed by poet Kimberly Marasco, which alleged that Swift, Aaron Dessner, Republic Records and Universal Music Group copied portions of her poems and used them in several of the pop star’s songs. Cannon disagreed, dismissing Marasco’s claims and writing that “none of plaintiff’s twelve counts identifies any protected expression.”
“The Court concludes that Plaintiff’s poems do not contain protectable expression and that, regardless, Plaintiff has failed to plausibly plead copying,” the document issuing the dismissal read.
The document added: “Basic ideas and themes (a woman working in a corporate environment, being ‘gaslighted,’ confronting adversity); ubiquitous metaphors (being ‘submerged’ under water, ‘tears as weapons,’ ‘desire as fuel and fire,’ becoming ‘the rain/storm’); and isolated common words and short phrases (‘tears,’ ‘running,’ ‘fire,’ ‘rain,’ ‘sky,’ ‘love,’ ‘invisible,’ ‘caged me,’ ‘flesh and blood,’ ‘it’s time to go’). As this Court already explained in that related case, such content amount[s] at most to ideas, metaphors, contexts, and themes – none of which is a proper subject of copyright protection.”
The federal judge permanently dismissed the poet’s lawsuit and further noted in the ruling that it “closely mirrors” a previous complaint Marasco filed before later amending it to target Swift. Swift’s legal team argued that Marasco’s plagiarism filings amounted to “shotgun pleading,” and the judge agreed, particularly after reviewing the amended complaint.
“The Second Amended Complaint likely qualifies as a shotgun pleading because it ‘assert[s] multiple claims against multiple defendants without specifying which of the defendants are responsible for which acts or omissions,’” the document added.
It’s turning out to be a good week for Swift. On top of putting the 14-month legal dispute behind her, she also celebrated her wedding. On Friday, she married her longtime boyfriend Travis Kelce. The pair did it in style, reportedly renting out Madison Square Garden for the event and turning it into a who’s who of celebrities. Adam Sandler even officiated the proceedings, which remain largely a mystery to the public.
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