Artificial Intelligence can use online content from creators to produce various “new works” online, whether those original content creators are globally famous, locally famous, or anonymous. These new works might be “deepfakes,” parodies, funny memes, or advertisements meant to trade off the goodwill of another party. Are there really ways to stop others from using that content when the content is … YOU?
Taylor Swift (by way of her company TAS Rights Management, LLC) recently filed trademark applications at the U.S. Trademark Office to federally register her voice and image. Swift is not the first famous face – or rather voice – to do so! In 2025, Matthew McConaughey’s company (J.K. Livin Brands, Inc.) registered his voice with the U.S. Trademark Office in the form of a “sensory mark” (audio mark) of McConaughey saying “Alright, alright, alright!” in connection with downloadable audio-visual media content. McConaughey also has a pending federal trademark application where the mark is a black and white photo of a casually posed McConaughey, in connection with entertainment services, among other things.
The intent behind this so called “Trademark Yourself” strategy is to allow celebrities to defend their name, voice, image, and likeness rights in the age of AI with an additional tool – federal trademark registrations.
Taylor Swift has frequently been the victim of online deepfakes, most notably in the form of widely shared videos or images with realistic depictions of Swift making product or political endorsements (without her permission). Swift has also taken action to protect her vocal persona by filing two federal trademark applications for sensory marks covering Swift saying (1) “Hey, it’s Taylor” and (2) “Hey, It’s Taylor Swift.” Swift has also filed a federal trademark application to protect her distinctive likeness where the mark is a color photo of Swift on a pink stage holding a pink guitar and wearing her signature iridescent bodysuit and boots (an image from her record-breaking Eras Tour). These three trademark applications relate to providing entertainment services and non-downloadable music videos, among other things.
Historically, trademarks are not designed to protect an individual’s general likeness, voice, or persona. Trademarks more traditionally include words or phrases, designs, and sometimes packaging and product configurations which are distinct and serve as source indicators for the mark owner’s goods and/or services. Sensory marks are trademarks that identify brands through senses other than text and/or images. Well-known examples include sound marks like the NBC chimes and the Netflix “TuDum” and scent marks like the distinctive smell of Play-Doh.
Sensory marks like those that Swift and McConaughey are trying to register may provide additional legal remedies beyond traditional right-of-publicity claims when it comes to fighting AI-generated content that misappropriates a party’s voice, image, likeness, or persona (particularly when it comes to unauthorized endorsements).
Does your client, whether an individual creator, public figure, or business have an online presence that has become viral or well-known based on the tone of a tagline, a jingle, or a unique voice of a character? Maybe that client is not exactly selling goods or services, but is it providing entertainment and content online? Another tool such a client may use to protect its content and themselves, in this age of stolen videos and AI generated copycats, is a federal trademark registration for aspects of its unique persona, voice, tagline, or jingle.
Trademark registrations can be uniquely helpful in the rapid enforcement of rights with various online social media platforms – which are otherwise known for making the process to remove AI deepfakes or copycat videos less than user friendly. If a federal trademark application for a sensory mark is filed correctly, it may result in a very strong tool in the fight against online content thieves and bad faith actors for a client who is building a brand and associated online following.
