<\/p>\n
Taylor Swift is entering her trademark era.<\/p>\n
The global pop star\u2019s company, TAS Rights Management, filed three new trademark applications last week, per the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Two of the applications relate to soundbites of her voice, saying the phrases \u201cHey, it\u2019s Taylor Swift\u201d and \u201cHey, it\u2019s Taylor.\u201d The other is a well-known image of Swift, often representative of her recent Eras tour,<\/a> featuring the 36-year-old onstage, holding her pink guitar and dressed in a shimmering bodysuit.<\/p>\n The push to lock down her public image comes at a time when many high-profile celebrities have called for regulations<\/a> against unauthorized AI-generated content. Matthew McConaughey<\/a> was one of the first Hollywood A-listers to leverage trademark law as an extra layer of protection.<\/p>\n In January, the \u201cInterstellar\u201d<\/a> actor secured eight trademarks for his likeness, including images of him smiling and the iconic recording of him saying, \u201cAlright, alright, alright,\u201d from the 1993 movie \u201cDazed and Confused.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMy team and I want to know that when my voice or likeness is ever used, it\u2019s because I approved and signed off on it,\u201d the actor told the Wall Street Journal<\/a> in January. \u201cWe want to create a clear perimeter around ownership with consent and attribution the norm in an AI world.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/b> Taylor Swift is sued by a showgirl, and drops video on a Hollywood ‘It Girl,’ Liz Taylor<\/a><\/p>\n Registering a trademark for a celebrity\u2019s speaking voice to defend against the prospect of AI-voice generation is a novel legal approach that has not yet been tested in court. Representatives for Swift did not respond to a request for comment on the intent of the recently filed trademarks. But Josh Gerben, one of the first attorneys to report Swift\u2019s latest legal moves<\/a>, said this is one of the growing gaps in intellectual property protection that AI can exploit.<\/p>\n Before AI infiltrated the internet, musicians, like Swift, would typically rely on copyright law to help prevent the unauthorized use and distribution of their music, while right to publicity laws would protect them from unlawful commercial use of their likeness. But with AI, users can manipulate people\u2019s voices and images to sing or say practically anything.<\/p>\n So if McConaughey has a trademark on his voice saying a phrase, then theoretically any AI-generated voice that sounds similar to it could be considered a violation of that trademark, according to Gerben.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they have this trademark protection in place, then the [AI] platforms can’t use that same voice to create new content,\u201d Gerben said. \u201cEvery celebrity would essentially have to go and do the same thing, but it’s trying to cut this off at the source as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Variety first reported news of Swift’s trademark filing.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/b> Music industry earned a record $11.5 billion in the U.S. last year, helped by vinyl and Taylor Swift<\/a><\/p>\n As one of the most popular musicians<\/a>, Swift has dealt with her share of unauthorized AI-generated content. She was previously one of the many female celebrities whose likeness was among several of Meta’s AI chatbot virtual celebrities.<\/a> The illicit chatbots allegedly produced pornographic images. Before the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump also shared AI-generated images of Swift<\/a> falsely suggesting that she had endorsed him, including one of her dressed as Uncle Sam with the words, “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.”<\/p>\n Because Swift is such a recognizable public figure, Luke Arrigoni, the chief executive of Loti AI, a tech company that focuses on likeness protection, said trademark filings like these aren\u2019t merely defensive but rather a setup for a long-term protective infrastructure.<\/p>\n “By locking down these trademarks now, she\u2019s ensuring that if a brand wants to use a ‘Swift-like’ AI voice in 2027, they\u2019ll have to go through her authorized gates or face federal trademark infringement,\u201d Arrigoni said in a statement. \u201cShe\u2019s essentially putting a price tag on her digital self, and that\u2019s exactly where the entire talent industry needs to go to survive.”<\/p>\n