Taylor Swift in the music video for “willow.” Image: screengrab from YouTube/Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift’s attorneys recently filed a lawsuit against Utah theme park Evermore amid an escalating trademark battle involving her latest album.
Evermore Park sued Swift weeks prior, accusing her of trademark infringement after using its name as the title of her latest album ‘evermore’ and related merchandise. The album allegedly had a negative effect on the business and confused guests as the company asked for millions in damages from the singer.
Meanwhile, the new counter lawsuit, filed by TAS Rights Management on Feb. 22 and a digital copy of which was obtained by INQUIRER.net, stated that the theme park had actors who regularly performed some of Swift’s songs such as “Love Story,” “You Belong With Me,” and “Bad Blood” without proper licenses.
The lawsuit also claims that Evermore theme park “blatantly ignored the numerous notices” from performing rights organization BMI and continued the unauthorized public performances despite being informed of penalties.
The theme park’s CEO Ken Bretschneider also suddenly sought a “retroactive license” after it heard news of an imminent legal battle against TAS, alleged Swift’s camp. The license he was seeking was said to cover all performances from 2018 to 2021, after the theme park had already benefited repeatedly from the songs.
Swift’s works may not be the only unauthorized performances in the park, as the filing also said in a footnote that songs by other artists like Katy Perry, Abba, the Beatles, Billy Joel, Britney Spears and others were also played upon request. JB
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