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Look what you made her do…
Taylor Swift has applied to trademark her voice and image in what seems to be an attempt to protect herself from artificial intelligence impersonations.
The pop superstar has lodged three trademark applications in the US. One using a photo of herself on stage during her Eras Tour; the other two being audio clips of her introducing herself while promoting her last album, ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’.
Here is the visual image protected by Swift:
“By registering specific phrases tied to her voice, Swift could potentially challenge not only identical reproductions, but also imitations that are ‘confusingly similar,’ a key standard in trademark law,” wrote trademark lawyer Josh Gerben, who first published details of the applications on his blog.
He said the applications could provide Swift with an “additional layer of protection”.
“Theoretically, if a lawsuit were to be filed over an AI using Swift’s voice, she could claim that any use of her voice that sounds like the registered trademark violates her trademark rights.”
He adds: “Same with the image filing. If someone creates an AI-generated version of Taylor in a jumpsuit with a guitar, or something close to it, now Swift has a federal trademark claim.”
This move comes after several AI-generated versions of Swift appeared online – from sexually explicit images to a doctored election ad in which the celebrated singer appeared to endorse Donald Trump.
It also comes after Oscar winning actor Matthew McConaughey became the first Hollywood celebrity to use trademark rules as protection against AI. He told The Wall Street Journal earlier this year that he had trademarked his voice and likeness from AI rip-offs.