Taylor Swift applies to trademark her voice and likeness in bid to prevent AI deepfakes
Taylor Swift has moved to trademark her voice and likeness in an apparent move to protect her from artificial intelligence (AI) deepfakes.
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The pop superstar has filed three trademark applications in the US.
The first used a photo of herself on stage during the record-breaking Eras Tour, and the following two were audio clips of her introducing herself while promoting her last album, The Life of a Showgirl.
The move follows actor Matthew McConaughey, who also used trademark law to try to protect his voice and image from AI-powered recreation earlier this year.
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The photo that Swift has used to file the application is a commonly used promotional image for the Disney+ film of her Eras Tour.
Trademark lawyer Josh Gerben said that the trademarking could protect her voice and likeness generally.
"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," he wrote.
"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.
"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."