American singer-actor Taylor Swift is facing a $1 million copyright infringement lawsuit after a poet from Memphis, Tennessee, filed documents on Tuesday alleging the singer-songwriter plagiarised sections of her book for her 2019 album 'Lover.'
According to Fox News, Swift borrowed "creative components that replicated the expressive design arrangements" for her seventh studio album from a book La Dart released with the same "Lover" title on Jan. 12, 2010, according to Teresa La Dart's lawsuit.
According to court records, La Dart's book was also registered with the United States Copyright Office in February.
Swift released the album with an accompanying tome on Aug. 23, 2019. The statute of limitations for copyright infringement cases is three years after the work is released. La Dart has until Tuesday to launch her lawsuit against the 11-time Grammy winner.
In her suit, acquired by Action News 5 in Memphis, La Dart argues 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."
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."
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."
Swift is also asked to cover all attorney's fees in the complaint, and La Dart wants a jury trial.
'Lover' was Swift's seventh studio album and the first album she recorded with Republic Records after leaving Big Machine Records after a 12-year contract dispute with Scooter Braun over her master recordings.
The album was her sixth consecutive Billboard 200 chart-topper, and it included the hit songs 'Me!,' 'You Need to Calm Down,' 'The Man,' and 'Lover.'
( With inputs from ANI )
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