{"id":2393566,"date":"2026-04-28T22:03:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2393566"},"modified":"2026-04-28T22:03:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:03:26","slug":"taylor-swift-is-stepping-up-the-legal-war-on-ai-copycats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/taylor-swift-is-stepping-up-the-legal-war-on-ai-copycats\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift is stepping up the legal war on AI copycats"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Taylor Swift has been at the center<\/a> of AI imitation controversies<\/a> for years, and now, she\u2019s become the latest celebrity who\u2019s escalating attempts to protect herself from AI copycats. As usual, however, the legal system intersects with technology in complicated ways \u2014 and Swift\u2019s efforts may be a long shot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In trademark applications filed last week, Swift\u2019s team asked for protection for two phrases spoken by the singer: Hey, it\u2019s Taylor Swift<\/a> and Hey, it\u2019s Taylor<\/a>. The trademark applications, filed by TAS Rights Management on behalf of Swift, include audio clips of Swift saying the two phrases as part of a promotion for her latest album. \u201cHey, it\u2019s Taylor Swift, and you can listen to my new album The Life of a Showgirl on demand on Amazon Music Unlimited,\u201d Swift says in one of the clips. TAS Rights Management filed a trademark application<\/a> for a photo of Swift as well, which shows the musician \u201cholding a pink guitar, with a black strap and wearing a multi-colored iridescent bodysuit with silver boots\u201d on stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Though Swift\u2019s team hasn\u2019t said that the trademarks are meant to protect against AI misuse, it seems like a likely possibility given Swift\u2019s history with AI. Not only has the star had to deal with the threat of AI music, but Swift also contended with an onslaught of sexualized AI deepfakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Artists have long used copyright law to protect their music, but the rise of AI-generated tracks has made defending their work and likenesses more difficult<\/a>. That\u2019s because copyrights only protect an artist\u2019s song<\/a> \u2014 not their voice. Legal teams have had to get a bit creative as a result, with Universal Music Group (UMG) issuing copyright takedown requests of an AI-generated Drake song, citing the Metro Boomin producer tag<\/a> that plays at the beginning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As explained by IP attorney Josh Gerben<\/a>, trademarks could help fill the gap created by AI-generated mimicry. Instead of targeting exact copies of her music, Swift \u201ccould potentially challenge not only identical reproductions, but also imitations that are \u2018confusingly similar,\u2019\u201d according to Gerben. The photo of Swift, similarly, could be potentially used to take action against similar AI-generated imagery. Earlier this year, Matthew McConaughey similarly obtained<\/a> trademarks for video clips of himself, including one where he says \u201cAlright, alright, alright\u201d to protect against AI misuse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But Alexandra Roberts, a professor of law and media at Northeastern University, tells The Verge that she\u2019s \u201cskeptical\u201d that the audio clip submitted by Swift\u2019s team \u201cdemonstrates use as a mark, rather than just a phrase that\u2019s included as part of a longer message\u201d:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Typically for a soundmark we\u2019d think of something like the NBC chimes or the MGM lion roar that plays at the beginning of each show or movie in isolation\u2026 If the USPTO [US Patent and Trademark Office] does issue preliminary refusals, Taylor\u2019s team will have a chance to provide different specimens that might do a better job satisfying the use requirement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Swift\u2019s trademarks could serve as another legal tool in her arsenal against AI-generated copycats, even if they\u2019re legally murky. Xiyin Tang, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, tells The Verge that trademarks could help \u201cwarn off unsophisticated infringers by directing them to a federal registration number and certificate of registration and hope that convinces them to stop, not because the federal registration would actually hold up in court.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There are already some avenues Swift\u2019s team could take, including the right of publicity laws<\/a> enacted across several states, which allow people to take legal action against the misuse of their name or likeness. Artists can combat false advertising and endorsements through federal law, too. \u201cSwift also has numerous trademark registrations for her name, so she can sue for federal trademark infringement if there\u2019s a use of her name by someone else that creates a likelihood of confusion,\u201d Roberts says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So far, only Tennessee has passed a law that specifically addresses AI-generated copycats of an artist\u2019s voice. Even YouTube\u2019s deepfake detection tool<\/a>, which gives celebrities, politicians, journalists, and creators the ability to take down AI-generated lookalikes, only applies to people copying their faces for now. In the absence of a larger framework for AI soundalikes, artists like Swift may hope trademark law will help defend against AI mimics that are coming not just for their faces, but their voices, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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