Poof! Taylor Swift, Evermore Theme Park Lawsuits Dropped With No Money Exchanged
from the nevermore dept
Well, that didn't last long. You will recall that in early February a Utah theme park called Evermore filed a very stupid trademark lawsuit against Taylor Swift. At supposed issue was Swift's new album, Evermore, and the associated merchandise for it. The theme park claimed that Swift's album was driving their search engine rankings down, that people would be confused thinking she was somehow connected to the theme park, and that the park also produces some music, putting them in the same competitive marketplace as the singer. Swift's team countersued, alleging that some of the park's actors would sing and perform copyrighted music, including Swift's. It was all, frankly, very dumb.
But merely a month later, the dumbness is gone. Rolling Stone reports that both sides have dropped their lawsuits and reached an agreement, one which does not carry any monetary exchange.
A lawsuit and countersuit between Taylor Swift and Utah fantasy theme park Evermore have both been resolved with the involved parties dropping their respective suits, Rolling Stone has learned.
“As a resolution of both lawsuits, the parties will drop and dismiss their respective suits without monetary settlement,” a spokesperson for Taylor Swift said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
A fitting end, since these suits never should have been filed to begin with. The claims that Evermore made against Swift were ridiculous on their own. But to go after the singer in this manner while the park itself was potentially infringing upon her copyrighted music is hubris in the extreme. The park, which reportedly hasn't been profitable since it was created, surely could have found a better use for its cash reserves than paying a legal team for this kind of litigious adventurism.
On top of that, surely the park is now firmly on Swift's and TAS Management's radar, the latter being her rights management group.
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Filed Under: copyright, evermore, taylor swift, trademark
Companies: evermore
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Wait, what?
So the lawsuits just…canceled each other out?
Is that how it worked?
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Money grab FAIL
Evermore: You used our name!
Swift: But you used me and my music to promote yourself without paying a dime.
Evermore: Just kidding!!! Nothing to see here.
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"The park, which reportedly hasn't been profitable since it was created"
They were just doing the American thing, suing someone with more money to get money.
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But RIAA
As Swift pointed out, the park is using Copyrighted music. Next thing you know, Evermore (the park not the song) will be getting at least a letter if not in-person visits from the RIAA demanding lots of money. First to say it's needed, and second to add on lots of fines for past transgressions. This money grab may come back to seriously bite them as a big money loss.
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Re: But RIAA
That is more of BMI's schtick
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Re: Money grab FAIL
You forgot Evermore's next step:
Add Left Shark exhibit to their park.
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If you can't make a profit, sue.
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Re:
If you cannot innovate, litigate.
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Just to signal boost exactly how STUPID the theme park's suit was:
So the word already had multiple, previously existing uses in trademark. To make Evermore's decision even more dumb; both the BoE & SoE feature fantasy themes, including pseudo-medievalism, and SoE was billed as an 'action RPG'. So really not a good choice of trademark disputes for a 'fantasy RPG' theme park to get involved in.
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