Taylor Swift 'Evermore' Lawsuit: Pop Star Fights Back by Countersuing
Taylor Swift is fighting back after she was sued for trademark infringement over the use of her recent surprise album "Evermore" name and related merch.
But a few weeks later, TAS Rights Management, the company that handles rights of the pop star's music and other trademarks, filed a countersuit against Evermore, a fantasy-themed amusement park in Utah.
In new legal files obtained by the Rolling Stone, the 31-year-old's company claims that Evermore Park routinely played Taylor Swift's songs on its grounds "without authorization or license agreement."
TAS further claims that Evermore Park has routinely been engaged in copyright infringement, even playing three of her songs, including "Love Story," "You Belong With Me," and "Bad Blood" during performances without obtained the correct and proper licenses.
They also accused the theme park of continuously ignoring messages from BMI, a performance rights organization, relating to the legal matter.
They have been continually reaching out to the park to inform that it infringed on Swift's copyrights.
Instead, Evermore continued to "benefit from the free and unauthorized public performance of Swift's songs" despite knowing of the liability and penalties that are imposed by the Copyright Act to protect musicians.
READ ALSO: Taylor Swift's Gasoline: Listen to HAIM's Awesome Collab With Tay-Tay
Now, TAS seeks a court order that would allow Evermore to settle enhanced statutory damages for each infringed song.
Taylor Swift 'Evermore' Lawsuit
In early February, Evermore Park's CEO Ken Bretschneider claimed that the "folklore" hitmaker's use of the park and the "Evermore" album title is causing "actual confusion" that has negatively affected their online presence.
Guests reportedly started asking whether the album and the park were the results of a collaboration between the two or any relations between it and Taylor Swift.
They claimed that Swift's latest album release "infringes on the park's merchandise designs" as well.
Evermore Park bills itself as providing an immersive experience where performers portray fantasy characters in an interactive world.
When the lawsuit was filed, the award-winning singer's lawyers called out the park's claims as "frivolous" and "baseless."
They also claimed that Evermore Park's merchandise sale, includingsmall dragon eggs and guild patches, is not the same as the products being sold on Taylor Swift's website.
It was also revealed that the park continues to play works of Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Green Day, Whitney Houston, Nirvana, Gotye, Billy Joel, The Beatles, among others, without licenses, in court papers filed by Taylor Swift's team, who are also demanding a jury trial.
