FILE - This Jan. 23, 2020 file photo shows Taylor Swift at the premiere of "Taylor Swift: Miss Americana" in Park City, Utah. Swift's eighth album "Folklore" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's 200 albums chart this week, marking the best first-week sales of the year and giving the pop star her seventh No. 1 title on the chart. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah — Utah’s Evermore Park is suing Taylor Swift, and alleging the singer/songwriter’s newest album of the same name infringes on their trademark.
The lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday seeks damages on the basis that Swift’s 2020 album created “actual confusion” between their park and the album. Evermore Park argues Swift borrowed the marketing techniques used by the park to promote the album.
The amusement park located in Pleasant Grove opened its doors in 2018 and was billed by CEO Ken Bretschneider as a mix of “Lord of the Rings” and “Westworld.”
Evermore Park said due to the popularity of Swift’s album, it’ll have to continually live up to hype created by the album. And in order to meet demands, the representatives from the park “will incur additional marketing and promotional costs as it strives to compete with the torrent of information related to the ‘Evermore’ album and Taylor Swift.”
According to the lawsuit, Evermore Park claims employees were asked if the park collaborated with Swift’s team, and web traffic nearly tripled after the announcement of Swift’s album ‘Evermore.’
Additionally, the lawsuit seeks to have a judge bar Swift’s team from capitalizing on or replicating products from the park. Evermore Park is also asking for $2 million in damages for every piece of Swift’s merchandise it believes was inspired by the park.
Lawyers representing the park argue Swift advertised her December 2020 album as “escapism” and marketed ‘Evermore’ in ways similar to the park’s marketing when park officials were promoting the attraction. The example provided in the suit states Swift’s music video ‘Willow’ portrays her under a tree which resembles CD cover art sold at the park.
One of Swift’s lawyers called the lawsuit “baseless,” and claimed Evermore Park hasn’t suffered any damages due to the album title. Attorney Douglas Baldridge said, if anything, the park would benefit from sharing the same name as the album created by the iconic pop star.
To make his point, Baldridge drew attention to a tweet posted by the park stating “Absolutely love that everyone online is talking about us … thank you!,” in regard to Swift’s ‘Evermore’ album release. The tweet is no longer visible on the park’s profile.
Taylor Swift herself has yet to respond to the lawsuit. A hearing date has yet to be set.