Taylor Swift continues the copyright battle against AI

The use of trademarks represents an attempt to fill the gaps in traditional copyright law, which protects musical compositions but not the timbre or vocal essence of an artist. In a landscape where deepfakes and imitations generated by algorithms are increasingly widespread – the recent case of the Drake clone which shook the sector is famous – the pop star’s lawyers are trying to establish a regulatory precedent. The aim is not only to target identical reproductions, but also those imitations defined as “confusingly similar” which could mislead the public and damage the commercial value of the artist’s image.

Despite the incisiveness of the action, the effectiveness of this maneuver divides intellectual property experts. While on the one hand figures such as Matthew McConaughey have already achieved similar successes for characteristic expressions such as his “Alright, alright, alright”, on the other hand several jurists underline how a colloquial phrase can hardly be equated with a distinctive sound brand like MGM’s lion’s roar. At the moment, only the state of Tennessee has adopted specific legislation to combat AI clones, leaving the rest of the market in a gray area where the registration of a federal trademark could serve more as a preventive deterrent than as a decisive procedural weapon.