6:09 PM PST 2/24/2021
by
Claudia Rosenbaum, Billboard
The artist’s intellectual property management company claims that Evermore Park, which the singer sued earlier this month, used her music without obtaining proper licenses.
Taylor Swift’s intellectual property management company is stepping into action after a riveting fantasy park in Pleasant Grove, Utah, filed a lawsuit against the artist earlier this month.
While Evermore Park is suing Swift for using the trademark “Evermore” – the title of Swift’s ninth studio album released on December 11 – a new lawsuit has been filed by TAS. [Taylor Alison Swift] Rights Management focuses on another issue. The company alleges that Evermore Park intentionally used Swift’s numbers for some time without proper licenses before filing a lawsuit.
Swift’s lawyers allege that more than a year before the park filed its lawsuit, TAS had been tipped off that the singer’s songs were being performed and played there without the required licenses. As early as 2019, BMI, the executive rights organization that protects and collects the works, began informing the park that they were infringing Swift’s copyrights by playing the songs and issuing a contract for legal use. BMI then sent multiple letters to the park with a draft music licensing agreement for the songs, requesting them to sign the agreement and return it to BMI’s Nashville location.
Swift’s legal team said park officials ignored BMI’s messages and continued to use the works without proper licensing in performances by the park’s musicians for visitors. Additionally, after the park learned of this upcoming lawsuit, CEO and founder Ken Bretschneider called BMI to purchase a retroactive license for all public performances, according to court documents.
Swift’s legal filing comes three weeks after the park sued the singer, TAS and Taylor Nation LLC in federal court in Utah, accusing them of violating the park’s name by using it as its title. Evermore album and associated merchandise. Evermore Park, which bills itself as an immersive experience where artists portray fantasy characters in an interactive world, claimed in court documents that it has been the registered owner of the Evermore trademark since 2015.
Swift’s lawyers objected that the park’s lawsuit was merely “a creditable trademark claim” and an attempt to enforce a settlement based on Swift’s December 2020 release of the eternal album.
The park also reportedly plays, without licenses, the works of Katy Perry, Abba, The Beatles, Billy Joel, Britney Spears, Green Day, Gotye, Journey, Nirvana, Semisonic, Third Eye Blind, Tom Petty, Queen, Weezer and Whitney Houston, among other things, according to court documents filed by Swift’s legal team.
Swift asks the court to order the park to pay damages and be permanently banned from performing her works. Her team is also demanding a jury trial.
This story first appeared on Billboard.com.