A Federal Judge Calls a Poet’s Latest Copyright Suit Against Taylor Swift ‘Absurd’ and Legally Baseless

Taylor Swift has defeated a copyright lawsuit brought by self-published poet Kimberly Marasco, who alleged that Swift lifted lyrics, imagery, and ideas from her poems. In a ten-page ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon permanently dismissed the case, writing that Marasco’s claims target “quintessential themes, concepts, and isolated words—exactly the kind of material copyright law does not protect.”

Marasco had pointed to supposed similarities between her work and several Swift songs. She claimed that the line “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can / Wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man” from “The Man” infringed on her poem *Ordinary Citizen*, which includes the sentence “I’m running behind / You say its His word against mine.” She also argued that her X.com poem referencing “Elon being a genius” and the phrase “the equation of you” in Swift’s “Mastermind” were “eerily similar” because both relate to a person as a mathematical equation. Another allegation involved the image of leaves turning gold.

The judge was unconvinced. “None of plaintiff’s twelve counts identifies any protected expression,” Cannon wrote, calling the parallels “ubiquitous metaphors” and generic concepts. Swift’s attorney, James Douglas Baldridge, had described the lawsuit as “frivolous and harassing” and noted that Marasco’s own books were not actively marketed—one had sold just 300 copies worldwide. “Plaintiff’s claims are, as in her last lawsuit, absurd and legally baseless,” Baldridge wrote in a prior motion.

Marasco’s original complaint, filed in May 2024, was similarly dismissed with prejudice. Her refiled suit added UMG and Republic Records as defendants and named additional songs, but the court found it “closely mirrored” the earlier failed effort. Co-defendants Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner were either dropped or previously dismissed. The ruling ends the case for good.