Taylor Swift is escalating her legal war against artificial intelligence imitators

It was Taylor Swift In the center to Controversy over imitation artificial intelligence For years, and now, she has been the latest celebrity to step up attempts to protect themselves from AI imitators. However, as always, the legal system and technology intersect in complex ways – and SWIFT’s efforts may be far-fetched.

In trademark applications filed last week, Swift’s team sought protection for two phrases spoken by the singer: Hey, I’m Taylor Swift and Hey, I’m 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 promotion for her latest album. “Hi, I’m 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 clip. TAS Rights Management provided a Brand application For a photo of Swift as well, showing the musician “holding a pink guitar with a black strap and wearing a multi-colored iridescent suit with silver shoes” on stage.

Although the Swift team hasn’t said that the brands aim to protect against AI misuse, this seems like a likely possibility given Swift’s history with AI. Not only did the star have to deal with the threat of AI music, but Swift also had to deal with one Artificial Intelligence Sexual Deepfakes Attack.

Artists have long used copyright law to protect their music, but the advent of artificial intelligence-generated compositions It makes defending their work and those like them more difficult. This is because Copyright protects only the artist’s song – Not their voice. As a result, legal teams have had to get a little creative, as Universal Music Group (UMG) issued copyright takedown requests for an AI-generated Drake song. Citing the Metro Boomin product tag Who plays first.

As he explained Intellectual property attorney Josh GerbinBrands can help bridge the gap created by AI-generated simulation. Instead of targeting replicas of her music, “Swift could challenge not only identical copies, but also confusingly similar imitations,” Gerben says. Likewise, Swift’s image can be used to take action against similar AI-generated images. Earlier this year, Matthew McConaughey got the same Trademarks of his videos, including one in which he says “Okay, okay, okay,” to protect against AI abuse.

But Alexandra Roberts, a professor of law and media at Northeastern University, says so Edge She is “skeptical” that the audio clip sent by Swift’s team “shows it being used as a tag, not just a phrase included as part of a longer message”:

Typically for an audio tag, we think of something like the chimes of NBC or the roar of an MGM lion that plays at the beginning of each show or movie separately… If the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) issues a first refusal, Taylor’s team will have the opportunity to submit different samples that might do a better job of meeting the usage requirements.

Swift’s trademarks could serve as another legal tool in her arsenal against AI-generated copycats, even if they are legally ambiguous. Xin Tang, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, says: Edge That trademarks can help “warn unsophisticated infringers by directing them to the federal registration number and certificate of registration and hoping to convince them to stop, not because the federal registration will actually hold up in court.”

There are already some avenues the SWIFT team can take, including… Right to advertising laws It has been enacted in several states, which allows people to take legal action against misuse of their name or image. Artists can combat false advertising and endorsements through federal law as well. “Swift also has multiple trademark registrations for her name, so she could file a lawsuit for federal trademark infringement if there’s a use of her name by someone else that creates potential confusion,” Roberts says.

So far, Tennessee is the only state to pass a law specifically addressing AI-generated replicas of an artist’s voice. until YouTube deepfake detection toolwhich gives celebrities, politicians, journalists and creatives the ability to remove AI-generated look-alikes, only applies to people whose faces are copied for now. In the absence of a larger framework for the likes of AI, artists like Swift may hope that trademark law will help defend against AI impersonators that come not just for their faces, but for their voices as well.