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Taylor Swift is facing a $1 million copyright infringement lawsuit after a Memphis, Tennessee, poet on Tuesday filed documents claiming the singer-songwriter copied elements of her book to create the 2019 album “Lover.”
Teresa La Dart’s lawsuit claimed Swift used “creative elements that copied the expressive design arrangements” for her seventh studio album from a book La Dart published with the same “Lover” title on Jan. 12, 2010.
In court documents, La Dart’s book was also registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in February.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment.
TAYLOR SWIFT PUNCHES BACK IN COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT, CLAIMS SHE WROTE HIT ‘SHAKE IT OFF’ HERSELF
Taylor Swift was sued for $1 million by a Memphis-area poet who claimed the singer stole artwork for her “Lover” album.
(Rich Fury)
Swift released the album with an accompanying tome on Aug. 23, 2019.
The statute of limitations on copyright infringement cases is three years following the release of the work. Tuesday was the last day La Dart could file the suit against the 11-time Grammy Award winner.
La Dart claims in her suit — obtained by Action News 5 in Memphis — that Swift and the Taylor Swift Productions, Inc. (TSP) book includes “substantially the same format of a recollection of past years memorialized in a combination of written and pictorial components with a book.”
Taylor Swift released her seventh studio album, “Lover,” on Aug. 23, 2019.
(Valheria Rocha)
Poet Teresa La Dart filed a $1 million copyright infringement lawsuit against Taylor Swift for work used from her 2010 book “Lover.”
(Teresa La Dart)
The suit also states there’s a “substantially similar cover format, with the author photographed in a downward pose, and a color scheme (pastel pinks and blues) with the same title with substantially the same introduction page formats with a similarly styled ‘Lover’ title, as well as an earlier photograph of the author in a nature setting and turned to the right.”
Documents state the defendants have “neither sought, nor obtained, a license from TLD (Teresa La Dart) of her creative design element rights, nor have they given any credit to TLD in relation to the TLD work and the infringing Swift and TSP ‘Lover’ book release.”
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The suit said the Swift album has reached “at least 2.9 million copies sold within the United States since its release date (over 4 million copies sold internationally).”
La Dart claims she has suffered “continuing” damages and “will not abate in the future.”
Taylor Swift’s “Lover” was her sixth consecutive album to top the Billboard 200 charts.
(Chris Pizzello)
The lawsuit also requests Swift to incur all costs of attorney’s fees, and La Dart is requesting a trial by jury.
“Lover” was Swift’s seventh studio album and the first effort she recorded with Republic Records after ending her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records following the Scooter Braun fallout over her master recordings.
The album was her sixth consecutive album to top the Billboard 200 charts, and featured the popular singles, “Me!,” “You Need to Calm Down,” “The Man” and “Lover.”
