Pop superstar Taylor Swift has finally won a copyright lawsuit over her song lyrics, after beating claims labelled "absurd" by her legal team.
Self-published poet Kimberley Marasco first brought a case against Swift in 2024, alleging that the singer-songwriter had stolen lines and taken inspiration from her poems to help create over a dozen songs on albums such as The Tortured Poets Department, Midnights, Evermore, and Folklore.
However, on Monday 6 July, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case, ruling that "common observations", "ubiquitous metaphors" and vague references to gaslighting were the only common threads between the two artists' work (NME).
"The allegedly infringed material — basic ideas, themes, metaphors, isolated words, and short phrases — is not protected expression and cannot be infringed," said the Judge.
Swift's attorney Douglas Baldridge responded: "This is plaintiff's second frivolous and harassing lawsuit" against the artist. He claimed that the case against her was "absurd and legally baseless."
This isn't the first time Swift has been embroiled in an intense copyright battle. Following the release of the popstar's album, The Life of a Showgirl last year, the Las Vegas-based performer Maren Flagg claimed that the branding around the record infringed on her own registered trademark 'Confessions of a Showgirl'.
And back in 2023, a federal judge dismissed with prejudice a separate case filed by the Mississippi poet Teresa La Dart, who alleged that Swift's 2019 album Lover had copied the title, colour scheme and format of a self-published poetry collection by the same name (Pitchfork). Swift has repeatedly faced these types of allegations and come out on top.
The news of the case's dismissal comes just days after Swift tied the knot with American football player Travis Kelce, whom she's dated since 2023. The wedding took place at Madison Square Garden on July 3, 2026, and included performances from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Selena Gomez and the Haim sisters.
With this legal win, Swift has even more to celebrate. That being said, Marasco has pledged to appeal the decision. This may not be the last we hear of it.
