Fight against deepfakes: Taylor Swift wants to protect her voice and image under trademark law

Instead, Swift wants to trademark two recordings of her voice in which she introduces herself: “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift” and “Hey, it’s Taylor.” The company is also filing for trademark protection for a photograph of Taylor Swift in which she can be seen in her glittering “Lover” bodysuit, boots and with her guitar – it is one of the most famous images from the “Eras Tour”, which she went on from 2023 to 2024.

With these applications, Swift and her team are apparently responding to the danger of AI-generated deepfakes. Trademark attorney Josh Gerben first reported on the applications on his blog; The report was picked up by the industry magazine “Variety”. Swift’s management has not yet responded to media inquiries about the action.

It is still unclear how the courts will react

However, they are following the same strategy as the actor Matthew McConaughey and the law firm Yorn Levine, which specializes in entertainment law and represents him. As it became known in January, the firm had eight trademark applications approved, including for famous so-called “sound marks” such as McConaughey’s famous line “Alright, alright, alright!” from the film “Dazed and Confused” as well as several video clips of the actor.

They pursued this novel strategy so that McConaughey could sue in US federal courts if necessary, members of his legal team told Variety. The registered trademarks could help prevent “abuse” in the broader sense, even for AI videos that do not explicitly sell anything. But it is not yet clear how the courts will react to this.

“Swift’s trademark filings point to a broader shift in the way celebrities are using trademark law to defend themselves against AI,” writes attorney Josh Gerben on his blog. By registering certain phrases associated with her voice, Swift could potentially challenge not only identical reproductions, but also imitations that are “confusably similar,” which is a key standard in trademark law, Gerben said.

Taylor Swift has repeatedly fallen victim to deepfakes in the past, which have shown her naked, among other things. In 2024, Donald Trump shared several AI-generated images supporting his presidential candidacy.