A federal judge in the United States ruled on Monday that a lawsuit alleging pop superstar Taylor Swift had plagiarized phrases from a Florida woman’s poems for multiple songs has been dismissed. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon stated that the plaintiff, Kimberly Marasco, did not demonstrate that her poems were protectable expressions or that Swift had access to the poems and that an average person would find the songs substantially similar.
Marasco, who represented herself, disagreed with the decision and plans to appeal. Attorneys for Swift and the other defendants, which include Republic Records and Universal Music Group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The allegations accused Swift, 36, of incorporating elements from Marasco’s poetry books into songs like “Down Bad” and “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” from Swift’s 2024 album “The Tortured Poets Department.” However, the judge determined 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 such as facing challenges, being “gaslighted,” and being “submerged” underwater. This ruling comes after an earlier version of Marasco’s lawsuit was dismissed last September.
The judge noted that where Marasco presented new claims, 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 made with prejudice, preventing Marasco from revising her complaint. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, also 36, tied the knot in a private ceremony at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on July 3.
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