According to reports, American pop music superstar Taylor Swift recently filed trademark applications for two audio clips and a photo of herself, a move aimed at protecting her voice and likeness from deepfake videos and audio created by artificial intelligence.
The applications, which were filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Friday, list Taylor Swift's TAS Rights Management as the owner of the audio clips and images.
In one of the audio clips, Taylor Swift can be heard saying: "Hey, I'm Taylor Swift, and you can listen to my new album, The Life of a Showgirl, on-demand on Amazon Music Unlimited."
In the second audio clip, Taylor said: "Hey, I'm Taylor. My brand new album, "The Life of a Showgirl," will be released on October 3rd, and you can click to save it so you can listen to it on Spotify."
The image in Swift's trademark application shows her standing on stage wearing a sequined outfit and holding a pink guitar.
Swift's image and voice have been used in countless AI-generated deepfake videos — everything from false advertising to false political propaganda to explicit images.
Actor Matthew McConaughey also submitted a similar trademark application and was approved. “We hope to use consent and signature as standards to draw clear boundaries for ownership in the era of artificial intelligence,” he said in January.
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who first broke the news of Taylor Swift's trademark applications on his blog on Monday, wrote that the applications were "designed to protect Taylor from threats posed by artificial intelligence."
"While existing 'rights of publicity' laws provide some protection against the unauthorized use of a celebrity's likeness, trademark registration can provide additional protection," Gerben wrote.
Gerben added that trademarking a celebrity's voice is a new trademark use that has not yet been tested by the courts.
"Historically, singers have relied on copyright law to protect their recordings," Gerben writes. “But now, AI technology allows users to generate entirely new content that imitates a singer’s voice without copying an existing recording, creating a void that trademarks may be able to fill.”
Gerben said the photo Swift sought to trademark had a similar effect.
"By protecting unique visual elements, including jumpsuits and poses that Swift often wears, Swift's team may be able to gain more ground to sue over doctored or AI-generated images that resemble her likeness," he wrote.