Taylor Swift sued for $1 million by author who claims singer plagiarised her work in 2019 album Lover: Report

Taylor Swift is reportedly facing a $1 million copyright lawsuit. The singer has been accused of plagiarism by an author, who said Taylor Swift copied her work from her 2010 self-published book of poetry, titled Lover. As per a report, Taylor allegedly plagiarised the author’s work for the companion booklet for her 2019 album, also titled Lover. Read more: Taylor Swift receives honorary doctorate from New York University

Taylor is reportedly facing another copyright dispute at present. It involves her popular song Shake It Off, which released in 2014. The singer allegedly borrowed lyrics from a 2001 song, titled Playas Gon’ Play, which was performed by an American girl group named 3LW. However, Taylor has reportedly denied stealing any lyrics in a sworn deposition.

According to Page Six, Taylor is now being sued for more than $1 million by Teresa La Dart, who said that the singer plagiarised her work from her 2010 book. On August 23, Teresa reportedly filed a complaint in a federal court in Tennessee, US, accusing Taylor of plagiarising her book of ‘poems, tales, and images’.

The report added that in her complaint, Teresa stated that in addition to sharing the same title, each work is a ‘recollection of former years immortalised in a combination of literary and graphical components’. The author also alleged that the graphic style and colour scheme used by Taylor for her album’s booklet was also too similar to her book, and therefore, could not be ignored as a mere coincidence.

Taylor is currently being sued by songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butle, who wrote the song that they say inspired the singer’s hit number Shake It Off. The 2017 lawsuit reopened on appeal after being dismissed initially. Taylor reportedly filed a motion on August 8 asserting that she had never heard of 3LW before their lawsuit.

“The lyrics to Shake It Off were written entirely by me,” the singer wrote in her declaration, which was shared by Billboard. She added, “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.”