Taylor Swift is stepping up the legal war on AI copycats | The Verge

Overview

Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech

Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews

Details

Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science

Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment

Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy

Gadgets Expand Laptops Phones TVs Headphones Speakers Wearables See all gadgets

Verge Shopping Expand Buying Guides Deals Gift Guides See all shopping

Streaming Expand Disney HBONetflix You Tube Creators See all streaming

Transportation Expand Electric Cars Autonomous Cars Ride-sharing Scooters See all transportation

AIClose AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All AI

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Entertainment Close Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Entertainment

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Policy Close Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Policy

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Taylor Swift is stepping up the legal war on AI copycats

Trademark applications filed by Taylor Swift could serve as another legal tool to combat AI fakes.

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Taylor Swift has been at the center of AI imitation controversies for years, and now, she’s become the latest celebrity who’s escalating attempts to protect herself from AI copycats. As usual, however, the legal system intersects with technology in complicated ways — and Swift’s efforts may be a long shot.

In trademark applications filed last week, Swift’s team asked for protection for two phrases spoken by the singer: Hey, it’s Taylor Swift and Hey, it’s Taylor. 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. “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 of the clips. TAS Rights Management filed a trademark application for a photo of Swift as well, which shows the musician “holding a pink guitar, with a black strap and wearing a multi-colored iridescent bodysuit with silver boots” on stage.

Though Swift’s team hasn’t said that the trademarks are meant to protect against AI misuse, it seems like a likely possibility given Swift’s 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.

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. That’s because copyrights only protect an artist’s song — 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 that plays at the beginning.

As explained by IP attorney Josh Gerben, trademarks could help fill the gap created by AI-generated mimicry. Instead of targeting exact copies of her music, Swift “could potentially challenge not only identical reproductions, but also imitations that are ‘confusingly similar,’” according to Gerben. The photo of Swift, similarly, could be potentially used to take action against similar AI-generated imagery. Earlier this year, Matthew Mc Conaughey similarly obtained trademarks for video clips of himself, including one where he says “Alright, alright, alright” to protect against AI misuse.

But Alexandra Roberts, a professor of law and media at Northeastern University, tells The Verge that she’s “skeptical” that the audio clip submitted by Swift’s team “demonstrates use as a mark, rather than just a phrase that’s included as part of a longer message”:

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

Swift’s trademarks could serve as another legal tool in her arsenal against AI-generated copycats, even if they’re legally murky. Xiyin Tang, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, tells The Verge that trademarks could help “warn 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.”

There are already some avenues Swift’s team could take, including the right of publicity laws 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. “Swift also has numerous trademark registrations for her name, so she can sue for federal trademark infringement if there’s a use of her name by someone else that creates a likelihood of confusion,” Roberts says.

Drake’s AI clone is here — and Drake might not be able to stop him

Musicians are eyeing a legal shortcut to fight AI voice clones

So far, only Tennessee has passed a law that specifically addresses AI-generated copycats of an artist’s voice. Even You Tube’s deepfake detection tool, 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.

Emma Roth Close Emma Roth News Writer Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Emma Roth

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

AIClose AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All AI

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Entertainment Close Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Entertainment

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Law Close Law Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Law

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Music Close Music Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Music

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Policy Close Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Policy

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Report Close Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Report

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Jury selection in Musk v. Altman: ‘People don’t like him’

Valve launches the Steam Controller without the Steam Machine

It’s a busy time for sci-fi, but don’t miss Aphelion

Valve’s new Steam Controller isn’t perfect, but I’m buying one anyway

Key Takeaways

Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech
Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews
Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science
Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment
Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy