{"id":3663,"date":"2026-07-06T18:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3663"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:40:16","slug":"taylor-swift-prevails-in-poets-plagiarism-lawsuit-as-florida-judge-dismisses-case-with-prejudice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3663","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift Prevails in Poet\u2019s Plagiarism Lawsuit, as Florida Judge Dismisses Case With Prejudice"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe wedding presents just keep on coming. Three days after Taylor Swift\u2018s marriage to Travis Kelce, a federal judge dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit filed 14 months ago by a little-known Florida poet who claimed that the superstar copied phrases from her poems in more than a dozen songs.<\/p>\n

Read more Texas Tech Football Docuseries Greenlit by Paramount+, Micah Brown to Direct and Showrun (TV News Roundup)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tUnited States District Judge Aileen Cannon, who has become a bit of a celebrity herself in recent years, ruled against plaintiff Kimberly Marasco and in favor of defendants Swift, Aaron Dessner, Republic Records and Universal Music Group. In the document dismissing the case, Cannon concluded \u201cthat Plaintiff\u2019s poems do not contain protectable expression and that, regardless, Plaintiff has failed to plausibly plead copying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCannon noted that Marasco conceded that one of the poetry books she published had sold only about 3,000 copies globally, and that none of them were being actively promoted. Cannon singled out some of the instances in which Marasco claimed her poetry ended up in Swift\u2019s lyrics, writing that it was a stretch to imagine the lines had enough similarity to make a plausible assumption Swift or her co-defendants had seen the books \u2014 but that there still would not be a case even if the singer had been proven to find inspiration in the poet\u2019s ideas.<\/p>\n

\n\tWrote Cannon, \u201cCount I alleges that Defendants\u2019 song \u2018The Man\u2019 (containing the lyric \u2018I\u2019m so sick of running as fast as I can \/ Wondering if I\u2019d get there quicker if I was a man\u2019) infringes Plaintiff\u2019s poem \u2018Ordinary Citizen\u2019 (\u2018I\u2019m running behind \/ You say its His word against mine\u2019) because both describe a woman working in a male-dominated office environment. Count X alleges that \u2018The Great War\u2019 (\u2018Diesel is desire, you were playing with fire\u201d) infringes \u201cThe Fire\u201d (\u2018Anger fuels our desire . . . I\u2019m fighting fire with fire\u2019) because both use the metaphor of \u2018desire as fuel and fire.\u2019 Similar allegations populate the remaining counts,\u201d Cannon wrote, unconvinced by Marasco\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe judge wrote that Marasco\u2019s suit was based in alleging Swift\u2019s appropriation of \u201cbasic ideas and themes (a woman working in a corporate environment, being \u2018gaslighted,\u2019 confronting adversity); ubiquitous metaphors (being \u2018submerged\u2019 under water, \u2018tears as weapons,\u2019 \u2018desire as fuel and fire,\u2019 becoming \u2018the rain\/storm\u2019); and isolated common words and short phrases (\u2018tears,\u2019 \u2018running,\u2019 \u2018fire,\u2019 \u2018rain,\u2019 sky,\u2019 \u2018love,\u2019 \u2018invisible,\u2019 \u2018caged me,\u2019 \u2018flesh and blood,\u2019 \u2018it\u2019s time to go\u2019).\u201d Cannon wrote that \u201csuch content \u201camount[s] at most to ideas, metaphors, contexts, and themes \u2014 none of which is a proper subject of copyright protection.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn sum, none of Plaintiff\u2019s twelve counts identifies any protected expression. Although that conclusion is sufficient to require dismissal, the Court proceeds to the next step because Plaintiff\u2019s independent failure to plead copying further confirms that dismissal is warranted.\u201d Cannon cites a recently amended version of the complaint as still \u201ccontain(ing) no allegations of direct evidence of copying, Plaintiff must show both (a) that Defendants had access to her works and (b) that the works are \u2018o substantially similar . . . that an average lay observer would recognize the alleged copy as having been appropriated from the original work.\u2019 \u2026 These elements are conjunctive: the failure of either independently defeats a claim of copying\u2026 For the new allegations\u2026, the works are not even substantially similar \u2014 a point Plaintiff effectively concedes by characterizing the alleged copying as \u2018paraphrase[s],\u2019 \u2018rephrase[s],\u2019 and copying with \u2018minor word substitutions.\u2019 Admitted differences of that kind cannot satisfy the substantial-similarity standard.<\/p>\n

Read more Lauren Bennett, \u2018Party Rock Anthem\u2019 Singer and G.R.L. Member, Dies at 37<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe defendants had called Marasco\u2019s lawsuit \u201cshotgun pleading,\u201d and the judge agreed, saying the amended complaint \u201clikely qualifies as a shotgun pleading because it \u2018assert[s] multiple claims against multiple defendants without specifying which of the defendants are responsible for which acts or omissions.\u2019 Plaintiff refers to the three Defendants collectively throughout her infringement allegations despite the distinct roles an artist, a record label, and a parent company occupy in the music industry, and several counts bundle multiple songs and multiple poems together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the plaintiff\u2019s three books, \u201cSwift Reflections: Poetry Inspirations,\u201d went into detail about her allegations that the singer had lifted ideas from her work. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn December, musicologist Brian McBrearty, who has given testimony on music copyright cases, wrote a column titled \u201cMarasco v. Taylor Swift Was and Is Doomed.\u201d He noted that Marasco\u2019s case had been delayed through much of 2025 because of difficulty serving the pop star with papers, but added that he hoped it would move forward so that it could be dismissed for the right reasons.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSome headlines might imply Swift escaped on a technicality or through overzealous personal security,\u201d McBearty wrote last year, before Swift was indeed served and the case moved ahead. \u201cNo. Nothing in this matter is tethered to copyright law in any meaningful way. \u2026 Once you get past the procedural noise and look at the allegations themselves, you see immediately why the service issues were almost merciful. This suit isn\u2019t built on musical content but on the idea that Swift wrote something thematically adjacent to some poems or songs of the plaintiff\u2019s. But no one owns themes, fortunately for Swift, especially, but for everyone else too. Uplifting commercial pop is practically a public utility at this point. Copyright isn\u2019t meant to suppress that; it\u2019s meant to incentivize creation, and it does that by protecting expression, not ideas. That\u2019s the carrot. .. These filings offer\u00a0no melodic details, nothing rhythmic, nothing harmonic or structural. Nothing that would interest\u00a0a musicologist in any serious forensic sense. Those are the ingredients that matter. When they\u2019re absent, the case is absent. And ideally we\u2019d stop hearing about it. Courts can\u2019t adjudicate vibes. They need claims rooted in authorship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJudge Cannon had been in the news earlier this year for rejecting a press effort to force the release of Special Counsel Jack Smith\u2019s report about President Trump holding onto classified documents at Mar-a-lago after his first term. Cannon was appointed by Trump in 2020 to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. She has been brought up as a possibility for the Supreme Court if Trump gets to select another new member during his second term.<\/p>\n

Read more Adam Sandler Told Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce While Officiating Their Wedding: \u2018Kiss Every Chance You Have. Every Day\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taylor Swift prevailed in a lawsuit contending she ripped off ideas from a Florida poet’s work, as a judge threw the case out entirely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[928],"class_list":["post-3663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-taylor-swift"],"yoast_head":"\nTaylor Swift Prevails in Poet\u2019s Plagiarism Lawsuit, as Florida Judge Dismisses Case With Prejudice - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3663\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taylor Swift Prevails in Poet\u2019s Plagiarism Lawsuit, as Florida Judge Dismisses Case With Prejudice - 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