Taylor Swift Wins Court Ruling Dismissing ‘Absurd’ Copyright Lawsuit Over Song Lyrics

A judge rejects accusations from a self-published Florida poet, ruling that she can’t sue Taylor over “basic ideas” and “common observations.” Taylor Swift attends the 2026 Songwriters Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony on June 11, 2026 in New York City. Theo Wargo/Getty Images for for Songwriters Hall Of Fame Trending on Billboard Taylor Swift has finally shaken off a copyright lawsuit over song lyrics that her attorneys had called “absurd.” A federal judge on Monday (July 6) dismissed an infringement case filed by Kimberly Marasco, a self-published Florida poet who claimed that the superstar stole lyrics from her poems for more than a dozen songs, spanning Lover, Folklore, Evermore, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department. Related In her ruling, Judge Aileen Cannon said the only similarities between Marasco’s poems and Swift’s songs were generic words — including “basic ideas” like the concept of “gaslighting,” as well as “ubiquitous metaphors” and “common observations.” “These are quintessential themes, concepts, and isolated words — exactly the kind of material copyright law does not protect,” the judge wrote in her decision, obtained and first reported by Billboard. “The allegedly infringed material — basic ideas, themes, metaphors, isolated words, and short phrases — is not
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