Entertainment
Taylor Swift countersues Utah theme park after shutting down ‘baseless’ trademark infringement claims
Taylor Swift is countersuing a theme park in Utah, after they accused her of trademark infringement, and is now seeking damages and for the attraction to be barred from playing her music.
The singer, 31, found herself at the centre of a trademark infringement suit issued by the owners of Evermore Park, earlier this month.
They claimed that Taylor’s album – that she surprised fans with last year – and its merchandise has ‘negatively’ impacted on the park and caused ‘actual confusion’ as visitors questioned whether the park was in collaboration with Taylor.
Evermore Park was seeking ‘$2million (£1.47m) per counterfeit mark’, plus additional damages and costs, but Taylor’s legal team shut down the suit, branding it ‘frivolous and baseless’.
Now, Taylor is suing Evermore Park – based in Pleasant Grove, Utah – for allegedly using her music without permission.
The Shake It Off hit-maker’s TAS Rights Management filed a suit for wilful copyright infringement, with documents claiming the park and its founder Ken Bretschneider have been ‘routinely’ using Taylor’s hits – including Love Story and Bad Blood – ‘without authorisation or licence agreement’.
It’s alleged actors ‘routinely perform copyright songs to large crowds’ and that Evermore has been using Taylor’s tracks for over a year, ignoring repeated warnings from BMI, which protects and collects revenue for artists.
Suit documents claim Evermore Park was ‘clearly and unambiguously informed’ it needed authorisation, but only contacted BMI as Taylor was preparing to issue her lawsuit.
It alleges the park has used the music of the likes of Katy Perry, Britney Spears and The Beatles in a similar manner and Taylor’s legal team is now asking for Evermore Park to pay damaged and to be permanently barred from playing her songs – unless given authorisation to do so.
Following Evermore Park’s suit against Taylor, lawyers for the star had slammed its claims of trademark infringement and questioned the ‘true intent’ behind it.
Her legal team released a statement at the time that shot down Evermore Park’s trademark infringement claims, as they argued Taylor hadn’t released similar merchandising products to the park, and accused the park owners of ‘looking for money’.
‘The fact is, this frivolous claim is coming from Ken Bretschneider, founder and CEO of an experience park and 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),”‘ the statement read.
‘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.’
Taylor released Evermore, a follow-up to record Folklore, in December last year.
Not surprisingly, it was a huge hit with fans and saw Taylor secure two number one albums in one year, as Evermore went on to top the charts five months after Folklore did the same.
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