Taylor Swift files counter lawsuit in escalating her 'Evermore' Theme Park Battle

Pop star Taylor Swift’s intellectual property management company is taking action after Evermore fantasy theme park located in Pleasant Grove, Utah, filed a lawsuit against the singer earlier this month. As per The Hollywood Reporter, the new lawsuit which is filed by TAS (Taylor Alison Swift) Rights Management claims that the fantasy theme park willfully used Taylor’s songs without the proper licenses for quite some time before it filed its lawsuit. Evermore Park, earlier, filed a lawsuit against the pop star for the use of the ‘Evermore’ trademark, which is the title of her ninth studio album released on December 11, 2020.

TAS attorney claims Taylor Swift's theme park battle is 'a meritless trademark claim'

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Taylor Swift's lawsuit comes after three weeks of the park suing Taylor, TAS and Taylor Nation LLC in the federal court in Utah. The attorney claims that it was more than a year before the theme park filed its lawsuit that the singer’s songs were being performed and played there without the requisite licenses. It was in 2019 that BMI, which performs rights organisation protecting and collecting revenue for the works, had informed the fantasy theme park that it was an infringement on Taylor’s copyrights by playing the songs.

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BMI had also provided a contract for legal usage at the time. They sent multiple letters with a draft music license agreement for the songs, which had to be signed and sent at their Nashville’s location. TAS officials informed that the theme park’s officials ignored the messages from the BMI and continued to use Taylor’s works without licenses when the park’s musicians performed for their visitors. Furthermore, according to the report, once the park learned about the ‘impending lawsuit’, Ken Bretschneider, CEO and founder, had called BMI in order to purchase a retroactive license to cover their all public performances, the court papers suggested.

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Evermore park had accused them of infringing the park’s name by using it as the title of her ninth album titled, Evermore. The fantasy theme park is popular as their performers portray fantasy characters in an interactive world. Moreover, Taylor’s attorneys have countered that the lawsuit filed against them was ‘a meritless trademark claim’ and an attempt to force settlement based on her December 2020’s album release, as per the report. The former is asking the court to order the park pay damages, be permanently enjoined from playing her works and a jury trial.

Image Source: Taylor Swift's Instagram

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