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Taylor Swift accused of ripping off ‘Lover’ book design in $1M copyright lawsuit by obscure author

In a complaint filed in a federal court, author Teresa La Dart claimed that Swift copied 'a number of creative elements' from her 2010 self-published book 'Lover'
UPDATED AUG 25, 2022
The alleged similarities between La Dart’s book and Swift’s book include covers that both feature 'pastel pinks and blues,' (@TheSwiftsociety/Twitter, Neilsen Bernard/Getty Images, amazon.com)
The alleged similarities between La Dart’s book and Swift’s book include covers that both feature 'pastel pinks and blues,' (@TheSwiftsociety/Twitter, Neilsen Bernard/Getty Images, amazon.com)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Taylor Swift has been sued by little-known poet and author Teresa La Dart. Dart claims that Swift apparently stole the design of her 2010 book 'Lover' for her  2019 album by the same name, 'Lover'. 

According to TMZ, in a new copyright lawsuit filed, La Dart stated that “a number of creative elements” from her book Lover which is a self-published collection of poems were copied by Swift for her own Lover book, which came with the special edition CD release of her album. La Dart’s lawyer claims Swift owes her in “excess of one million dollars."

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Taylor Swift performs onstage during the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 30, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Swift is currently dealing with another legal suit on the copyright claim over Taylor's smash hit song 'Shake It Off' (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

According to DailyMail, La Dart thinks the color scheme and style of the images used are too similar to be coincidental. However, in a response to Pitchfork, Dart's lawyer, William S Parks stated, "It has been a bizarre day as this was filed less than 24 hours ago. Glad to provide some insight as many commentators seem to think this was poorly undertaken. Initially, it is important to note Miss La Dart feels strongly that her full work needs to be compared with that of Miss Swift’s before a conclusion is made here. Secondly, this decision was not made nor taken lightly considering the other side is quite formidable. Lastly, this was a recent consideration and this filing was made ostensibly to reserve Miss La Dart’s rights (primarily at this point) since yesterday was the date the statute of limitations closed. Hope the masses can understand these issues from her perspective, in other words." Swift and her law team have not yet responded to the new copyright allegation. 

Taylor Swift attends the
Taylor Swift has not yet responded to the new lawsuit filed against her (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

However, the singer is currently dealing with another copyright controversy, a plagiarism lawsuit from two songwriters: Sean Hall and Nathan Butler who claim 'Shake It Off' used lines from their 2001 tune 'Playas Gon' Play, which was performed by the girl group 3LW. The suit was initially filed in 2017, however, the case was not approved because a judge stated the lyrics were too generic, but the case was reopened on appeal.

Musical group 3LW arrive at the 2006 BET Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on June 27, 2006 in Los Angeles, California.
Musical group 3LW sued Swift for using lines from their 2001 tune 'Playas Gon' Play in her song, 'Shake it off' (Frederick M Brown/Getty Images)

However, Swift responded to the claims in a declaration given to Billboard, Taylor said that she never stole any lyrics from the 2001 song and added that she had never even heard of the group that released it. She said, "Until learning about Plaintiffs claim in 2017, I had never heard the song Playas Gon' Play and had never heard of that song or the group 3LW." Taylor further added, 'None of the CDs I listened to as a child, or after that, were by 3LW." She also added, "I recall hearing phrases about players play and haters hate stated together by other children while attending school in Wyomissing Hills, and in high school in Hendersonville. These phrases were akin to other commonly used sayings like 'don't hate the playa, hate the game,' 'take a chill pill,' and 'say it, don't spray it."

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