Taylor Swift has filed new trademark functions to defend her voice and picture.
The filings, made on April 24, are particularly designed to defend Taylor from threats posed by synthetic intelligence.
Two of the filings are “sound marks.” This is a lesser-known class of trademark safety.
Specifically, Swift is in search of safety of her voice, saying:
and
2. “Hey, it’s Taylor.”
Another one of many filings protects a selected visible picture: Swift holding a pink guitar with a black strap, wearing a multicolored bodysuit with silver accents and boots. The look is carefully related together with her current performances.
The Visual Image Protected by Taylor Swift
The filings arrive as AI-generated content material continues to create issues within the leisure trade. Musicians and actors have more and more discovered their voices and photos utilized in unauthorized movies, songs, and digital content material that’s created by AI and circulated on-line.
While present proper of “Right of Publicity” legal guidelines provide some safety towards unauthorized use of a well-known particular person’s likeness, trademark filings can present a further layer of safety.
New Trademarks Filed by Taylor Swift on April 24, 2026:
Swift shouldn’t be alone in pursuing this technique. Actor Matthew McConaughey filed related emblems in current months to defend his voice and picture. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, McConaughey stated he wished to be certain that any use of his likeness or voice would require his approval, emphasizing the necessity for consent and attribution in an AI-driven world.
The idea of protecting sound as a trademark shouldn’t be new, although it stays comparatively uncommon.
Famous examples of “sound marks” embody Netflix’s “tu-dum” and NBC’s “chimes.”
That stated, making an attempt to register a celeb’s spoken voice is a brand new use of trademark registration that has not been examined in court docket earlier than.
Historically, singers relied on copyright regulation to defend their recorded music. But AI applied sciences now enable customers to generate solely new content material that mimics an artist’s voice with out copying an present recording, creating a spot that emblems might assist fill.
By registering particular phrases tied to her voice, Swift may doubtlessly problem not solely equivalent reproductions, but in addition imitations which are “confusingly similar,” a key normal in trademark regulation.
Theoretically, if a lawsuit had been to be filed over an AI utilizing Swift’s voice, she may declare that any use of her voice that sounds just like the registered trademark violates her trademark rights.
The image-based submitting serves an analogous function. By defending a particular visible, down to Swift’s generally worn jumpsuit and pose, Swift’s staff might acquire further grounds to pursue claims towards manipulated or AI-generated photos that evoke her likeness.
A New Trademark Playbook
Swift’s trademark filings recommend a broader shift in how celebrities are making use of trademark regulation to combat again towards AI.
Historically, artists haven’t used trademark regulation this fashion. Under US regulation, songs are protected by copyright. And somebody’s likeness or picture is protected by ‘Right of Publicity’ legal guidelines.
But AI has damaged that mannequin.
Now, anybody can spin up a model of an artist’s voice, have it say something, connect it to something, and distribute it at scale. And the scary half? It doesn’t have to be an actual copy to trigger harm.
That’s the place emblems are available.
Trademark regulation doesn’t simply cease equivalent makes use of (like copyright regulation): it stops something that’s confusingly related to the registered trademark. That’s a much wider proper and extra highly effective instrument in an AI world.
So locking up phrases like “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift” and “Hey, it’s Taylor” isn’t nearly these phrases. It’s concerning the voice itself. If anybody creates something utilizing that voice with AI, Taylor and her authorized staff may argue it violates her trademark rights.
Same with the picture submitting. If somebody creates an AI-generated model of Taylor in a jumpsuit with a guitar, or one thing shut to it, now Swift has a federal trademark declare.
Trademark claims add a vital ingredient of safety by enhancing the power to get hold of emergency injunctive reduction and to get better extra damages towards the AI platforms themselves.
Ultimately, Taylor Swift and Matthew McConaughey’s current trademark filings are testing new theories on how trademark regulation will work within the AI age.
But it stays to be seen if the filings will work as meant. A Federal Court will want a case to stress-test the authorized theories behind the filings.
That stated, the authorized theories behind the filings are robust.
And I look ahead to the blockbuster case when Swift sues the AI platforms.
Josh Gerben, Esq.
Josh Gerben, Esq. is a nationally acknowledged trademark lawyer and the founding father of Gerben IP. Since launching the agency in 2008, he has overseen the registration of over 10,000 emblems and dealt with over 1,500 trademark disputes. Josh’s follow focuses on constructing and defending international trademark portfolios for purchasers. These purchasers embody entrepreneurs, non-public equity-backed companies, athletes, celebrities, and public corporations. Frequently quoted by main media retailers like CNBC, CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, Josh is extensively regarded as a number one authority in trademark regulation.
Do you want help with a trademark matter?
Contact an Attorney Today
