Taylor Swift is taking legal action against potential AI misuse by trademarking her voice and image. The pop legend on Friday filed three trademark applications: two voice tracks and one image, as reported earlier Monday by Variety.
The two trademark filings involve the vocal phrases “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift” and “Hey, it’s Taylor” and the image filing is of Swift holding a pink guitar held up by a black strap and wearing an iridescent bodysuit in front of a pink stage while on the Eras Tour.
As AI deepfakes continue to spread across the internet, Swift’s move isn’t all that surprising. Being one of the most famous people alive, the singer has already dealt with a swath of AI-created forgeries, including a fake endorsement of Donald Trump for president during the 2024 election cycle.
Swift wouldn’t be the only celebrity to make such a move, as Matthew McConaughey trademarked his famous “alright, alright, alright” phrase from the 1993 film Dazed and Confused. McConaughey has more than a few views on what he’d like to see from AI.
Swift’s filings caught the attention of trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who wrote in a blog post that trademarking a celebrity’s spoken voice hasn’t been tested in court before. Music artists typically use copyright to protect their music.
“But AI technologies now allow users to generate entirely new content that mimics an artist’s voice without copying an existing recording, creating a gap that trademarks may help fill,” Gerben wrote.
Gebern also said that the trademark may be the next weapon for celebrities to fight against AI. The attorney explained that having a trademark “stops anything that is confusingly similar to the registered trademark.”
Gerben says the “legal theories” behind Swift’s filings are strong and that he looks forward to the case when she sues AI platforms directly.
Swift didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment through her publicist.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Taylor Swift filed three trademark applications: two for voice tracks of the vocal phrases Hey, it's Taylor Swift and Hey, it's Taylor, and one for an image of her holding a pink guitar in an iridescent bodysuit on the Eras Tour.
To counter AI deepfakes, which have already produced forgeries of her, including a fake endorsement of Donald Trump during the 2024 election cycle.
Yes. Matthew McConaughey trademarked his famous alright, alright, alright phrase from the 1993 film Dazed and Confused, and he has strong views on AI.
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben wrote that trademarking a celebrity's spoken voice hasn't been tested in court before, but the legal theories behind Swift's filings are strong and could become a new weapon against AI misuse.
