Taylor Swift Files Trademarks for Voice and Image to Protect Against AI Misuse

The applications have been approved for publication and await assignment to an examining attorney. The second states, 'Hey, it’s Taylor. The image depicts Swift onstage in a sequined outfit holding a pink guitar.

Intellectual property attorney Josh Gerben noticed the filings and shared them in a blog post on April 27, 2026. Gerben stated that the trademarks are specifically designed to protect Swift from threats posed by artificial intelligence. 'Now anyone can spin up a version of an artist's voice, have it say anything, attach it to anything, and distribute it at scale,' Gerben wrote in the post.

Gerben told CBS News that he believes celebrities could require such protections as AI tools make it easy to generate audio, visual, and video content known as deepfakes. Gerben called Swift a leader in the intellectual property space and said he expects other public figures to take similar steps.

He added that Swift is seeing a trend where AI is being used to create images, audio, and deepfakes of things that are really not pleasant.

Gerben wrote that while existing Right of Publicity laws offer some protection against unauthorized use of a famous individual’s likeness, trademark filings can provide an additional layer of protection. He noted that registering a celebrity’s spoken voice is a new use of trademark registration that has not been tested in courts.

Gerben also stated that historically singers relied on copyright law to protect their recorded music, but AI technologies now allow users to generate entirely new content that mimics an artist’s voice without copying an existing recording.

Swift appeared in a fake endorsement of President Donald Trump during his 2024 campaign, which he reposted and shared as genuine. The Associated Press reached out to a representative for Swift and Rebecca Liebowitz, partner at law firm Venable listed as the attorney on the filings. Requests for comment were not immediately returned.

A spokesperson for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment on April 27, 2026. S.

McConaughey made a deal with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs in 2025 that allows its artificial intelligence technology to replicate his voice. Bette Midler successfully sued Ford for using a soundalike singer in a commercial.