Taylor Swift has been at the center of AI copying controversies for years, and now, she’s become the latest celebrity to step up efforts to protect herself from AI copycats. However, as always, the legal system intersects with technology in complex ways – and Swift’s efforts could be far-reaching.
In trademark applications filed last week, Swift’s team sought protection for two phrases uttered by the singer: hey it’s taylor swift And hey, it’s taylor. The trademark applications filed by TAS Rights Management on Swift’s behalf include audio clips of Swift saying the two phrases as part of promotion for her latest album. “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift, and you can listen to my new album The Life of a Showgirl on demand on Amazon Music Unlimited,” Swift says in one clip. TAS Rights Management filed a trademark application Also for a photo of Swift, which shows the musician on stage “holding a pink guitar, wearing a multicolored rainbow bodysuit with a black strap and with silver shoes”.
Although Swift’s team hasn’t said whether the trademarks are meant to protect against AI abuse, it seems a likely possibility given Swift’s history with AI. Not only did the star have to deal with the threat of AI music, but Swift also had to deal with an onslaught of salacious AI deepfakes.
Artists have long used copyright laws to protect their music, but the rise of AI-generated tracks has made it more difficult to defend their work and likenesses. This is because copyrights only protect the artist’s songs – not their voice. As a result legal teams had to get a little creative, with Universal Music Group (UMG) issuing a copyright takedown request of an AI-generated Drake song citing the Metro Boomin creator tag that ran at the beginning.
As explained IP Lawyer Josh GerbenTrademarks can help fill the gap created by AI-generated mimicry. According to Gerben, rather than targeting exact copies of her music, Swift “could potentially challenge not only identical reproductions, but even ‘confusingly similar’ imitations.” Similarly, Swift’s photo could potentially be used to take action against similar AI-generated imagery. earlier this year, Matthew McConaughey also received similar Trademark for video clips of himself, including the one he says “Okay, okay, okay” to protect against AI abuse.
But Alexandra Roberts, professor of law and media at Northeastern University, explains The Verge He is “skeptical” that the audio clip presented by Swift’s team “demonstrates its use as a mark rather than simply a phrase that is included as part of a longer message”:
Typically for a soundmark we think of something like NBC’s chimes or the MGM lion’s roar that plays differently at the beginning of each show or movie… If the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) issues a preliminary denial, Taylor’s team will have the chance to provide different samples that might do a better job of meeting the use requirement.
Swift’s trademarks could serve as another legal tool in her arsenal against AI-generated copycats, even if they are legally questionable. Ziyin Tang, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, explains The Verge Trademarks can help “warn off unsophisticated infringers by directing them to the federal registration number and registration certificate and hopefully this will convince them to stop, not because the federal registration will actually get stuck in court.”
There are a few avenues Swift’s team may already be taking, including right of publicity laws have been enacted in many states, allowing people to take legal action against the misuse of their name or likeness. Artists can also combat false advertising and endorsements through federal law. “Swift also has multiple trademark registrations for her name, so if her name is used by someone else, creating a likelihood of confusion, she could get sued for federal trademark infringement,” says Roberts.
So far, only Tennessee has passed a law that specifically addresses AI-generated imitators of an artist’s voice. Even YouTube’s deepfake detection tool, which gives celebrities, politicians, journalists and creators the ability to remove AI-generated lookalikes, currently only applies to people copying their faces. In the absence of a larger framework for AI soundalikes, artists like Swift can hope that trademark law will help defend against AI copycats coming not just for their faces, but for their voices as well.
