A lawsuit alleging that pop star Taylor Swift plagiarized phrases from a Florida woman’s poems for multiple songs has been dismissed by a U.S. federal judge. The judge ruled that the plaintiff, Kimberly Marasco, did not demonstrate that her poems were protectable expression or that Swift had access to them and that an average person would find the songs substantially similar.
Marasco, who represented herself, expressed disagreement with the ruling and plans to file an appeal. Legal representatives for Swift and other defendants, including Republic Records and Universal Music Group, did not provide immediate comments.
The accusations against Swift, 36, claimed that she used details from Marasco’s poetry books in songs like “Down Bad” and “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” from her 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.
The judge cited examples such as facing adversity, being “gaslighted,” and being “submerged” under water. This dismissal comes after an earlier version of Marasco’s lawsuit was also rejected in September, with the judge noting that the alleged copying was characterized as “paraphrase,” “rephrase,” and minor word substitutions, not amounting to substantial similarity.
The dismissal was made with prejudice, preventing Marasco from revising her complaint. Swift tied the knot with Travis Kelce, a 36-year-old football star, at a private ceremony in Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on July 3.