Taylor Swift clears major legal hurdle after marrying Travis Kelce

Taylor Swift has won a legal battle after a federal judge dismissed a copyright lawsuit accusing her of copying poems in several of her songs.

On Monday, a judge threw out the case filed by Florida self-published poet Kimberly Marasco, who claimed Swift used material from her poems in songs across the albums Lover, Folklore, Evermore, Midnights, and The Tortured Poets Department.

The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again.

In the ruling, Judge Aileen Cannon said the similarities pointed out by Marasco were based on common ideas that are not protected by copyright law.

The court filing said the judge said the poems and songs shared "basic ideas" such as gaslighting, common metaphors and everyday observations.

"These are quintessential themes, concepts, and isolated words — exactly the kind of material copyright law does not protect," the judge wrote.

She also ruled that the alleged similarities involved "basic ideas, themes, metaphors, isolated words, and short phrases," which cannot be protected under copyright law.

The judge said Marasco had already been given several chances to revise her complaint and ruled there was no reason to allow another amendment.

"Further amendment would be futile," the ruling stated.

Marasco first sued Taylor Swift Productions in 2024, alleging that lyrics from songs including The Man, Illicit Affairs, and My Tears Ricochet copied her work. She later filed another lawsuit making similar claims and adding songs from The Tortured Poets Department.

Swift's legal team strongly denied the allegations throughout the case.

In the latest ruling, the judge agreed that Swift's use of common words and phrases, including "tears," "running," "fire," "rain," "sky," "love," "invisible" and "it's time to go," did not violate Marasco's copyright.