The mega-popstar has been the target of several AI deepfakes over the years
The popstar has made three trademark applications in the US, seemingly to protect her likeness from AI copycats.
One application uses an image of her performing during the ‘Eras Tour‘, and the other two use audio clips of Swift saying “Hey, it’s Taylor” and “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift” while promoting her recent album ‘The Life of a Showgirl‘.
Swift has been the target of several AI deepfakes over the years, from viral graphic images originating from a 4chan challenge to President Donald Trump sharing AI-generated ‘Swifties for Trump’ images.
She follows figures like Matthew McConaughey in trademarking their voice to prevent AI from using it.
The UK Government has responded to concerns about AI by banning AI firms from using artists’ work without permission – but figures from the UK music industry have insisted that “more needs to be done”.
The ban follows esteemed artists like Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Dua Lipa and Elton John urging the government to protect artists’ work from being ripped off, after the government previously put forward controversial plans to change copyright rules to let AI firms “steal” copyrighted works without paying or seeking consent from music creators, writers and artists.
The Ivors Academy, for instance, called for the government to “deliver a framework where AI companies license creative works with authorisation from creators, pay fair remuneration and provide transparency to creators and listeners alike” and “introduce new personality rights to protect songwriters and composers from AI-generated replicas of their voices and identities”.
Recently Swift is being sued for trademark infringement by Maren Wade, who owns the 'Confessions of a Showgirl' franchise
Taylor Swift is being sued for trademark infringement, false designation and unfair competition over the title of her last album, 2025’s The Life of a Showgirl.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in California federal court by Maren Wade, a former Las Vegas showgirl who owns the trademark to “Confessions of a Showgirl.”
She is seeking unspecified damages from Swift and UMG Recordings and a court order that would bar the pop star from continuing to use the album title. The Independent report.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Wade’s lawyer Jaymie Parkinnen said: “A solo performer who spent twelve years building a brand shouldn’t have to watch it disappear because someone bigger came along.”
Wade sang on America’s Got Talent in 2014, the same year she started writing a column in the Las Vegas Weekly titled “Confessions of a Showgirl.” The column featured Wade’s reflections on her experiences as a Vegas showgirl, and she has since grown the brand into a podcast and live musical show. According to the filing, Wade’s trademark covers live stage performances, theatrical productions and television.
In the filing, Wade’s lawyers write that when Swift and UMG released their similarly titled album, “they did not do so quietly.”
The complaint continues: “Within weeks, the designation was affixed to consumer goods, stamped onto labels, tags, and packaging, and deployed as a source identifier across retail channels—all directed at the same audience Plaintiff had spent years cultivating.”
The filing states that when Swift applied to register The Life of a Showgirl as her own trademark, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office declined because they ruled that it was confusingly similar to Wade’s existing trademark.
