Popular American singer Taylor Swift has made headlines by filing an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to trademark her voice (HEY, IT’S TAYLOR SWIFT.) and her “live images.”
Recent advances in AI technology have been remarkable, making it possible to mimic the voices and faces of celebrities with astonishing precision. The internet is flooded with advertisements and deepfake images that exploit these technologies to promote investments, creating a serious social problem.
Until now, the concept of “right of publicity” has been discussed as a means to protect the names and likenesses of celebrities. While this right protects the economic value associated with an individual’s name and likeness, its scope and criteria for application vary and remain ambiguous across countries and states. In particular, legal debates continue regarding the extent to which this right can be enforced against “AI-generated content.”
Furthermore, while the “Copyright Act” can protect specific songs or photographs, it has limitations in regulating things like “voices that merely resemble the person (AI-generated voices).”
Therefore, Taylor adopted a strategy to register her iconic phrases and live performance images as “trademarks.” Under trademark law, the subject of the rights is clear, and the scope of regulation extends broadly to include not only ‘identical’ but also “similar” items. By securing trademark rights in advance, the aim is likely to ensure stronger and more direct legal recourse against unauthorized use by AI.
“Sound trademarks” have been recognized in Japan since 2015. In the future, we may see an increase in cases where celebrities in Japan—whose voices are distinctive enough to be instantly recognizable—choose “trademark registration” as a new form of brand protection, in addition to their right of publicity. (Chamomile)
Trademark search (HEY, IT’S TAYLOR SWIFT.)
Trademark search (live image)
