6 - Copyright and Fair Use

Hannah Diffee

Professor Reppert

Media Law and Ethics

April 2025

6 - Copyright and Fair Use

Taylor Swift Sued for Alleged Copyright Infringement

In February 2025, author and poet Kimberly Marasco filed a $30 million lawsuit against Taylor Swift, accusing the pop superstar of copyright infringement and plagiarism of ideas. 

Above: Images of Marasco and Swift

Marasco is a relatively unknown author, with only two poetry books available on Amazon and five audience reviews. Her most popular book, Songs of the Unsung, is an anthology that contains her poetry from previous years and her 2018 novel, Fallen from Grace. According to the Amazon description, "the writing [of Songs] was inspired by societal issues as well as from Kimberly's own personal challenges of anxiety and fear to expressions of hope and dreams."

In 2020, Marasco published a companion novella to Songs of the Unsung called Swift Reflections: Poetry Inspirations. In this work, she claims that Taylor Swift copied her work to write over a dozen songs featured on the albums Lover, Folkore, Midnights, and The Tortured Poets Department. In a blog post, Marasco noted that "not all examples constitute copyright issues," but she finds it strange that many of Swift's songs share themes with her poems and use similar metaphors. 

"Some songs include the same exact lyrics as lines to my poems. Furthermore, I wrote on topics that have never been in poetry form or in songs before--- this does not have anything to do with being good or not. I have worked hard on making my writing unique, conveying concepts in ways that have not been done before poetically or musically."

- Kim Marasco

The novel's back cover

Marasco's novel, Swift Reflections.

The Copyright Case

To file a copyright infringement lawsuit, a group or individual must first register their copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. "If you do not register your work, you still technically have a copyright, but you cannot bring a lawsuit in federal court to enforce it" (Justia). The plaintiff must prove that they own a valid copyright for the work and that another party has infringed upon it.

This copyright infringement case involves the singer, her co-producers and co-writers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, and her record labels, Universal Music Group and Republic Records. "Marasco said that affidavits of service were returned and filed by Universal Music Group on March 4, Republic Records and Antonoff on March 7, and Dessner on March 11" (Newsweek). Swift is the only defendant without official legal documents for the case, allegedly because she has been challenging to locate after being "off the radar" since the end of her Eras Tour in December.

Above: Dessner, Swift, and Antonoff at the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2021. (Source: Rolling Stone).

This is Marasco's second lawsuit against Swift and her team. Her first, filed in 2024 against the singer and Taylor Swift Productions, was dismissed after Marasco failed to serve Swift with the suit on time. Judge Aileen Cannon of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has presided over both cases.

Evidence in the Case

One example of copyright infringement that Marasco provides is Swift's music video for the song "Cardigan." The author compares it to her poem "Breaking Waves," in which she writes that swimming through the waves will lead her to calm waters that are her saving grace. The music video conveys a similar message, showing the singer "swimming in a fierce ocean looking for something to calm her."

Above: "Cardigan" Music Video

The following is a list of more alleged similarities between Marasco's and Swift's writing:

________________________________

Kimberly Marasco Poetry

"You thought I'd never leave, guess it took you by surprise when I got up and took the keys" (Time).

Taylor Swift Lyrics

"Should've known I'd be the first to leave / ...So I stole the keys / That was the last time you ever saw me" (Getaway Car).

________________________________

Poetry Line

"With the clouds I rain, the smog consumes me" (Delusional Reality).

Song Lyric

"I was midnight rain" (Midnight Rain).

________________________________

Poetry Line

"I heard her laughter echoing to us below, laughing this is nothing but a sh** show" (Scorpion).

Song Lyric

"She's laughing up at us from hell" (Anti-Hero).

________________________________

Above: On February 22, Marasco shared a "sneak peek" of the lawsuit on her Instagram.

The lawsuit will likely be dismissed, just as the previous one was. Marasco lacks concrete evidence to prove that Swift had access to her work and created pieces that are substantially similar to hers. While the author's frustration is somewhat understandable, it seems quite conceited. Aside from her works about personal experiences, she cannot claim that her writing is entirely original. Many of the examples of plagiarism she presents are questionable, and the grammatical errors in her blog post and on the back cover of her book do not provide her much credibility. Overall, Marasco seems to be claiming ownership of ideas that do not belong solely to her, and the case may simply be a ploy for attention.