On April 24, 2026, Taylor Swift's company TAS Rights Management filed three trademark applications with the USPTO. Two cover her voice. One covers her image in performance.
Here is what the applications actually contain, where the legal analysis gets complicated, and what the strategy means for any creator building a career right now.
What she actually filed
All three applications were filed the same day, represented by attorney Rebecca Liebowitz of Venable.
First sound trademark. Serial No. 99784980
The mark is the spoken words "Hey, it's Taylor Swift." The specimen filed to show use is a recording of Swift promoting her album on Amazon Music:
"Hey, it's Taylor Swift, and you can listen to my new album, 'The Life of a Showgirl,' on demand on Amazon Music Unlimited."
Listen to the official USPTO specimen (opens in new tab) →
Second sound trademark. Serial No. 99784979
The mark is the spoken words "Hey, it's Taylor." The specimen is a different recording, used for Spotify:
"Hey, it's Taylor. My brand new album 'The Life of a Showgirl' is out on Oct. 3 and you can click to presave it so you can listen to it on Spotify."
Listen to the official USPTO specimen (opens in new tab) →
Visual trademark. Serial No. 99784977
The visual mark covers the performance photograph filed with the application. The USPTO's mark description verbatim:
"A photograph of Taylor Swift holding a pink guitar, with a black strap and wearing a multi-colored iridescent bodysuit with silver boots. She is standing on a pink stage in front of a multi-colored microphone with purple lights in the background."
Color claim: pink, black, purple, and silver.
View the filed specimen on the USPTO record (PDF) →
All three are public federal records. Anyone can look them up in the USPTO trademark search database.
What a soundmark requires
A soundmark is a trademark in audio form. The legal test is identical to any other mark: the sound must function as a source identifier. It tells consumers who a product or service comes from.
Several familiar sounds have been registered at the USPTO. The NBC chimes: three notes, same sequence, always NBC (USPTO Serial 72349496). The MGM lion's roar: plays before the studio's films, always MGM (USPTO Serial 73553567). Intel's five-note chime, registered as a sound mark by Intel in 2000 (USPTO Serial 75332744); the registration was cancelled in 2021 because Intel did not file an acceptable Section 8 declaration. Pitbull's grito, his signature "EEEEEEEYOOOOOO" call rooted in the Latin musical tradition of the grito, was registered with the USPTO in 2019 on a claim of acquired distinctiveness, with use since 2002 stated in the record (USPTO Reg. No. 5877076, owned by ACP IP, LLC).
Each of those sounds stopped being just a sound and became a brand signal. Listeners encountered it the same way, in the same context, repeatedly, until the connection between sound and source was automatic. That learned commercial association is what trademark law protects.
Where the legal analysis gets complicated
The specimen recordings Swift filed are promotional clips tied to a specific album release on a specific platform: the first for Amazon Music, the second for Spotify presaves. Both applications state 2011 as the date of first use.
Trademark law asks whether the sound identifies the source of the goods or services. Under TMEP § 1202.15, sounds may be registered on the Principal Register when they are "arbitrary, unique or distinctive and can be used in a manner so as to attach to the mind of the listener and be awakened on later hearing in a way that would indicate for the listener that a particular product or service was coming from a particular, even if anonymous, source." Sounds that resemble or imitate "commonplace" sounds must be shown to have acquired distinctiveness. Whether these spoken phrases meet that standard is for the USPTO examining attorney to decide.
The structural problem goes further. Trademark law does not limit registered rights by the type of use. A registered mark is enforceable against all infringing uses, not only AI-generated ones. If these soundmarks register, the question does not stop at whether an AI company can synthesize her voice. Whether any later use infringes would turn on whether it is likely to cause confusion (15 U.S.C. § 1114(1)), a question for a court, not for the examining attorney, who decides only whether the marks can be registered.
Whether the marks survive is one question. What they accomplish in the meantime is another.
What the filings are actually designed to do
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1057(b), a certificate of registration on the Principal Register is prima facie evidence of the validity of the registered mark, of the owner's ownership of the mark, and of the owner's exclusive right to use the registered mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods or services specified in the certificate, subject to any conditions or limitations stated in the certificate.
A sound mark for "Alright, alright, alright," Matthew McConaughey's catchphrase, was registered on December 16, 2025 (USPTO Reg. No. 8070191); the USPTO record lists J.K. Livin Brands, Inc. as owner.
Why artists are improvising with trademark law
The reason any of this matters is the state of federal law. The NO FAKES Act of 2026 (S. 4591) is not law: as of November 3, 2026, the Senate Judiciary Committee had reported it (June 24, 2026) and it was on the Senate Legislative Calendar. The TAKE IT DOWN Act, enacted May 19, 2025, makes it unlawful, under conditions the statute lists, to knowingly publish an intimate visual depiction or an AI-generated "digital forgery" of an identifiable individual, and requires covered platforms to remove such a depiction within 48 hours of a valid removal request.
Some states have moved. Tennessee's ELVIS Act (Public Chapter 588, effective July 1, 2024) provides that every individual has a property right in the use of their name, photograph, voice, or likeness, and makes a person liable in a civil action for distributing technology whose primary purpose or function is producing a particular, identifiable individual's photograph, voice, or likeness, with knowledge that this was not authorized. In February 2025, Arkansas amended its Frank Broyles Publicity Rights Protection Act (HB 1071, Act 159) to provide protections for an individual whose photograph, voice, or likeness is reproduced through artificial intelligence and used commercially. California Civil Code § 3344 makes a person who knowingly uses another's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for advertising or selling, without prior consent liable for any damages sustained by the person injured as a result; subdivision (d) excludes uses in connection with any news, public affairs, or sports broadcast or account, or any political campaign, and subdivisions (e) and (f) further limit liability for uses in commercial media and for owners and employees of advertising media. New York Civil Rights Law § 51 lets a person whose name, portrait, picture, likeness, or voice is used in New York for advertising or trade without written consent bring an action.
So artists are building their legal perimeter from the tools that exist now: trademark, copyright, state voice statutes, and platform takedown procedures. None is a complete solution. Together they represent the available options for anyone operating before a comprehensive federal framework arrives.
What this means if you are building a creative career
Swift's advantage is scale, not access. She has a dedicated legal team and corporate entities behind these filings. Most working artists do not. The legal tools she is using, though, are not exclusive to her.
As both a practicing attorney and a working artist, the questions I hear most often from creators are straightforward: Can someone use my name without my permission? Can someone fake my voice in an ad? What do I actually own?
Start with your name. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1057(c), once a mark such as an artist name, stage name, or brand is registered on the Principal Register, the filing of the application constitutes constructive use of the mark, conferring a nationwide right of priority for the goods or services in the registration, except against a person whose mark has not been abandoned and who, before that filing, used the mark, filed an application to register it that is pending or has registered, or acquired a right of priority through a foreign application and timely filed a US application under 15 U.S.C. § 1126(d). Under 15 U.S.C. § 1057(b), the certificate is prima facie evidence of the owner's exclusive right to use the registered mark in commerce for those goods or services.
If you use a specific audio element across your commercial output, we recommend assessing whether a sound-mark application fits. The sound must function as a source identifier, not just be a recognizable clip of your voice; under TMEP § 1202.15, a sound that resembles or imitates a commonplace sound must be shown to have acquired distinctiveness. Whether a particular element qualifies depends on the facts.
A registered trademark is not a condition of every platform removal process. For example, under the TAKE IT DOWN Act, covered platforms must provide a process through which an identifiable individual (or an authorized person acting for them) can request removal of an intimate visual depiction published without their consent.
State voice and likeness laws do not depend on trademark status: neither Tennessee's ELVIS Act nor California Civil Code § 3344 conditions its protection on a trademark registration. New York Civil Rights Law § 51 also reaches use of a person's voice or likeness for advertising or trade without written consent.
We recommend addressing your trademark position before you need it.
Aghil Ebrahimi, Esq. is the founder of StarGuard Law, licensed in California, Ontario, and Quebec. He is also a touring artist with 500K+ followers, which means he represents exactly the intersection his clients occupy.
StarGuard Law handles trademark registration from clearance through registration, including soundmark applications and ongoing monitoring. If you are an artist or creator thinking through AI identity protection, see our Artist & Creator Representation practice.
If you are an AI company or tech founder working through the trademark side of your launch, this guide covers the registration process for AI startups specifically.
This article is for general information only — not legal advice.
