A federal judge in the United States has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the newly wed pop sensation Taylor Swift plagiarized phrases from a Florida woman’s poetry for more than a dozen songs. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that the plaintiff, Kimberly Marasco, did not demonstrate that her poems were protectable expressions or that Swift had been exposed to them in a way that an average person would consider her songs to be substantially similar.
Marasco, who represented herself, expressed disagreement with the decision and plans to appeal. Legal representatives for Swift and other defendants, including Republic Records and Universal Music Group, did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The lawsuit accused Swift, 36, of incorporating details from Marasco’s poetry into songs such as “Down Bad” and “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” from Swift’s 2024 album “The Tortured Poets Department.” However, the judge stated that any similarities between Marasco’s poems and Swift’s songs were limited to unprotectable ideas, themes, metaphors, and isolated words.
Judge Cannon provided examples like facing adversity, being “gaslighted,” and being “submerged” underwater to illustrate her decision. This dismissal follows an earlier version of Marasco’s lawsuit being dismissed in September. The judge noted that where new allegations were made by Marasco, the works were not substantially similar, as acknowledged by the plaintiff characterizing the alleged copying as “paraphrase,” “rephrase,” and copying with “minor word substitutions.”
The dismissal of the case on Monday was with prejudice, meaning Marasco cannot revise her complaint. Taylor Swift married Travis Kelce, also 36, the prominent football player, at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on July 3.
(Note: The source link has been omitted as per the instruction)