Taylor Swift's 2021 is getting off to a weird start. Swift is being sued by a theme park named... Evermore. Of course, it happens to share its name with Swift's second surprise album of 2020, released on Dec. 11. According to People, Evermore Park is suing the singer for alleged trademark infringement.
In court papers obtained by Rolling Stone, the Utah amusement park alleges that Swift's album caused "actual confusion" between the two, with some park attendees reportedly asking “whether Evermore album was the result of a collaboration between Evermore and Taylor Swift or some other type of relationship.” The lawsuit also alleges that Swift's album release also affected the park's social media presence, Google search traffic, and merchandise sales. In response, Evermore Park is asking for $2 million in damages.
A representative for Swift called the lawsuit "baseless" in a statement to People and claimed it was a distraction from the park's own legal troubles, which were covered by Utah Business in August. "The fact is this frivolous claim is coming from Ken Bretschneider, founder and CEO of an experience park," the statement reads. "Utah Business says, 'He owes millions of dollars in construction, mechanic, and landscaping fees to workers across the valley who have yet to be paid' ... with 'a collection of more than 20 construction liens on the Evermore property.' The true intent of this lawsuit should be obvious."
A letter from Swift's legal team in response to the lawsuit denied that she infringed on the park's trademark and dismissed allegations about similar merchandise, claiming that the park's medieval-themed items, like "dragon eggs, guild patches, and small dragon mounts," are not being sold by Swift as merchandise to promote her own album.
When announcing the album, Swift revealed that Evermore wasn't planned but was simply the end result of her being unable to stop writing new songs following her first surprise album of 2020, Folklore. "To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music," she wrote. "We chose to wander deeper in."
Evermore Park's official website describes the attraction as "a world of play for all ages, immersed in a fantasy European hamlet of imagination." Interestingly enough, the park's recent New Year's Eve party was called Afterglow, which just so happens to be the name of a deep cut on Swift's 2019 album Lover. Perhaps they really should just collaborate if they have this much in common.
