Taylor Swift secures major win in copyright lawsuit days after wedding to Travis Kelce
FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA: Just a few days after marrying the love of her life, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift has won a legal battle against self-published Florida poet Kimberly Marasco.
Marasco had accused the pop icon of plagiarizing phrases from her poetry book for many of her songs, featured on her albums, like ‘Lover’, ‘Folklore’, ‘Evermore’, ‘Midnights’, and ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.
Judge says Taylor Swift and Marasco’s works share 'basic ideas'
But on Monday, July 6, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, which was reportedly filed against Swift as well as Aaron Dessner, Republic Records, and Universal Music Group in February 2025.
In her ruling, Judge Aileen Cannon wrote that both Marasco’s poems and the Grammy winner’s works shared “basic ideas” like “gaslighting,” “ubiquitous metaphors,” and “common observations”, which “are quintessential themes, concepts, and isolated words — exactly the kind of material copyright law does not protect.”
Cannon also noted that “the allegedly infringed material — basic ideas, themes, metaphors, isolated words, and short phrases — is not protected expression and cannot be infringed.”
Judge asserts that the 'plaintiff has failed to plausibly plead copying'
The judge has even blocked the plaintiff from filing another suit, saying, “Plaintiff has had ample opportunity to plead her claims; she was expressly warned that the Second Amended Complaint would be her final opportunity.”
“The Court concludes that Plaintiff’s poems do not contain protectable expression and that, regardless, Plaintiff has failed to plausibly plead copying,” Cannon added.
During the ruling, the judge also agreed with the defense, who earlier called Marasco’s accusations “shotgun pleading”, stating, “it assert[s] multiple claims against multiple defendants without specifying which of the defendants are responsible for which acts or omissions.”
But the plaintiff has expressed her discontent with the verdict, as she told USA Today, “I disagree with the decision and will be appealing it.”
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding venue featured large blown-up pictures of them
Meanwhile, Swift’s July 3 wedding with Kelce, both 36, was a star-studded affair. They said “I do” to each other at Madison Square Garden, wearing outfits by Christian Dior.
A press release shared, “They are designed by Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director of Dior Women’s, Men’s and Haute Couture Collections, in close collaboration with the Bride and Groom. This is Jonathan Anderson’s first couture wedding dress for a world-renowned celebrity!”
Also, as per a now-deleted post by AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron, who was invited to the wedding, the venue was “draped in peach and white. Large blown-up pictures of Taylor and Travis at each age, year by year, from one year-old to late teenager-hood, were on display.”
“They say there were around one thousand attendees, but surprisingly, it all felt intimate and small. Everything was close,” Aron added.
