On April 27, 2026, pop superstar Taylor Swift filed trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for two audio clips and one image of herself — a calculated legal maneuver designed to protect her voice and likeness from imitations of AI-deepfake-generated videos and audio.

AI technologies are rapidly evolving to allow users to generate entirely new content that mimics an artist's voice without copying an existing recording — a gap that traditional copyright law never anticipated. As trademark attorney Josh ​Gerben explained in an April 27, 2026, Reuters article, "Taylor Swift files to trademark her voice, likeness to ward off AI deepfakes," Taylor Swift's filings "[we]re specifically designed to protect Taylor from threats posed by artificial intelligence," providing "an additional layer of protection" beyond existing Right of Publicity laws.

Read the full article at reuters.com