Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Earlier in February, fantasy adventure park, Evermore Park, sued Taylor Swift for allegedly stealing their trademarked name for her most recent album. Now, the artist is countersuing.
Evermore Park is a fantasy adventure story come to life. Located in Utah, the park allows visitors to immerse themselves in a storyline from Medieval times full of magic, dwarves, knights, and more. In early February, after the release of Taylor Swift’s newest album also titled ‘Evermore,’ the company sued the singer for her merchandise involved with the album; saying it infringed upon their trademark. Their $2 million lawsuit claimed that the album caused “actual confusion and negatively affected their search engine placement,” the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Taylor Swift’s team said the claim was “baseless,” further commenting that “Utah Business says, ‘[Evermore CEO Ken Bretschneider] 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.”
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Now, TAS Rights Management, Swift’s trademark and music rights team, is countersuing; claiming that the park has used Taylor’s music for multiple performances without proper licensing. According to the suit, the park has consistently dodged phone calls and emails from BMI, a performing rights organization that defends artists and gets them their money, about obtaining the proper license. The suit further states that the park “blatantly ignored the numerous notices from BMI and opted instead to continue to benefit from the free and unauthorized public performance of [the songs], despite actual knowledge of the liability and substantial penalties imposed by the Copyright Act to protect artists.”
There have been reports that Bretschneider is now looking into how to get a retroactive license due to the impending lawsuit, but time will tell how this plays out.
Oh, Evermore Park, look what you made her do.
