Taylor Swift has sued the US theme park that accused her of trademark infringement and has alleged it used her music without permission.
It emerged earlier this month the owners of Evermore, a venue in Pleasant Grove, Utah, had sued the pop superstar over the title of her most recent album.
Lawyers for the owners said they owned the trademark to the name Evermore and it was violated when Swift started selling merchandise related to her record.
The singer’s legal team dismissed the claim as “frivolous and irresponsible”.
Now, Swift has filed a lawsuit of her own. The singer’s TAS Rights Management filed a suit in her home state of Tennessee for wilful copyright infringement.
According to the legal papers, the park and its founder Ken Bretschneider have been “routinely” using Swift’s music – including the songs Love Story, You Belong With Me and Bad Blood – “without authorisation or licence agreement”.
The park, which opened in 2018, is said to employ actors who “routinely perform copyrighted songs… to large crowds.”
Evermore park has been using Swift’s music for more than a year and ignored repeated warning from BMI, the performing rights organisation which protects and collects revenue for artists, the court papers say.
The park was “clearly and unambiguously informed” it needed authorisation, according to the lawsuit.
Only recently and after Swift’s lawsuit “became imminent” did the park contact BMI, “in an overt attempt to cover up their years of unlawful conduct and intentional failure to compensate artists”, the lawsuit states.
It describes the park’s earlier trademark claim as “meritless” and alleges the venue has also used the music of artists including Katy Perry, Abba, the Beatles, Billy Joel, Britney Spears, Green Day and Whitney Houston, among others.
Swift’s legal team has asked the court to order the park to pay damages and be permanently barred from playing her songs without authorisation.
