Defendant's Attorneys Seek Dismissal in Taylor Swift Copyright Infringement Case
Attorneys representing a defendant in a copyright infringement case involving Taylor Swift and others have requested the court to dismiss the defendant from the lawsuit. The plaintiff, Florida artist Kimberly Marasco, allegedly missed the court's extended deadline to serve songwriter Aaron Dessner with the lawsuit. Marasco filed a complaint against Swift, Dessner, Universal Music Group, and Republic Records, claiming that they copied her poetry in various albums. This is the second lawsuit Marasco has filed against Swift, with the first one resulting in Swift's dismissal from the case due to a failure to serve the lawsuit on time.
Dessner's attorneys filed a motion to quash an attempt to serve him with the lawsuit, stating that no documents were personally delivered to him or anyone authorized to receive service on his behalf. Marasco opposed the motion, but the court granted it and gave her one final opportunity to serve Dessner by October 15. Despite Marasco's arguments, the court denied her request for reconsideration, stating that the service attempt was insufficient.
In response to the motion to dismiss Dessner from the case, his attorneys emphasized that Marasco failed to effect service on Dessner by the court's extended deadline and therefore, Dessner should be dismissed from the action. Marasco, in a motion for reconsideration, expressed concern about potential prejudice if Dessner is dismissed due to alleged insufficient service of process.
The court has yet to rule on Dessner's request to be dismissed from the case. If you have a story that you believe Newsweek should cover or any questions about this story, you can contact [email protected].