Earlier this month, a fantasy-themed amusement park in Utah called Evermore sued Taylor Swift for trademark infringement on her most recent album of the same name. Now TAS Rights Management, the company that deals with Swift’s brand and musical rights, has filed a lawsuit against the park, Rolling Stone points and Pitchfork can confirm.
According to court documents seen by Pitchfork, the counter-claim states that Evermore Park used to play Taylor Swift songs “without authorization or license agreement”.
The agenda includes two letters from BMI (the performing rights organization) to Evermore Park, from August and September 2019. Both letters inform Evermore Park of the copyrighted nature of the use of music. “In the past, letters have been sent to your attention along with licenses reflecting your music usage fee of $ 1,728.67 for the period from May 2019 to December 2019 only,” states a letter. “This fee does not include all other unlicensed periods when you used music.” The lawsuit specifically refers to the park’s use of the songs “Love Story”, “You Belong With Me” and “Bad Blood” by Swift.
The TAS lawsuit states that, as of 2019, BMI has repeatedly tried to contact Evermore Park through calls, emails and letters, however, they claim that the amusement park responded only after they learned that TAS’s counter-process was imminent.
TAS is seeking a court order for Evermore Park to pay for increased legal damages for each breach of work and performance.
Pitchfork contacted representatives from Evermore Park and TAS Rights Management for comment.