NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News
Taylor Swift is being sued for trademark infringement by a Utah theme park that shares the same name as her latest album, ‘Evermore’.
The Evermore theme park alleges that the singer’s album title has confused guests and detrimentally affected its page ranking on internet search engines.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this week in a US District Court in Utah, also alleges that Swift’s album infringes on the theme park’s merchandise designs and artwork for the original soundtracks it has released.
Following the record’s release in December, Evermore park management claims its guests were asking whether Swift and the theme park had collaborated on the album. The lawsuit is seeking millions in damages, in addition to legal fees.
Swift’s legal team has responded to the lawsuit, dismissing it in a statement as “frivolous” and pointing to the various lawsuits that are currently underway against the Evermore group and its founder Ken Bretschneider.
Describing the lawsuit as “baseless … frivolous and irresponsible”, Swift’s representatives added: “It is inconceivable that there is any likelihood of confusion between your client’s theme park and related products and Ms Swift’s music and related products.”
In a letter filed in court, the singer’s representatives also said that the theme park’s sale of “small dragon eggs, guild patches and a small dragon mount” are not similar to the merch items being sold on Swift’s website.
“According to Utah Business, ‘As of June 2020, at least five lawsuits have been filed against Bretschneider and the Evermore group by major construction companies like Sunroc, AGC Drywall and Construction, Geneva Rock, Mountain Point Landscaping, EME Mechanical, Kreativ Woodworks, and NFH Distributing (Beehive Brick and Stone)’,” a spokesperson for Swift told Pitchfork.
“The companies claim ‘they are owed between $28,000 and $400,000.’ Utah Business says, ‘he owes millions of dollars in construction, mechanic, and landscaping fees to workers across the valley who have yet to be paid’… with ‘a collection of more than 20 construction liens on the Evermore property.’ The true intent of this lawsuit should be obvious.”
‘Evermore’ arrived in the last few days of 2020 as Swift’s second surprise album of the year.
Upon its release NME gave the album five stars, saying “Swift pushes the boundaries of her indie reinvention, adding a bit of ‘1989’-era gloss to produce a beacon of hope”.
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