Country-pop singing sensation Taylor Swift has prevailed in a Nashville court battle fought out, until recently, entirely in secret.

Senior U.S. District Judge Tom Wiseman last week granted Swift an injunction and default judgment against 16 out of the 24 individuals named in a lawsuit she filed in May 2009 and twice amended to add more defendants.

All are accused of violating Swift's intellectual property rights by selling "counterfeit" merchandise that bore Swift's name and other trademarks she owns.

The case was placed under seal, as required under federal trademark law, to keep from alerting the suspected infringers from learning that Swift's "merchandise enforcement team" (as her legal filings describe it) was investigating their activities.

After Swift's team seized unlicensed merchandise that was on sale at shows in Georgia, South Carolina and other states over the past year, her attorneys asked the court to unseal the case last month. Last week's court order allows for the destruction of all the seized items.

Mike Milom, David Crow and Natalya Rose of Milom Joyce Horsnell Crow represent Swift in the litigation.