Josh Gerben Analyzes the Legal Strategy Behind Taylor Swift’s New Trademark Filings for CNN

Taylor Swift recently filed 3 trademarks to protect the sound of her voice and an image of her on stage in an attempt to combat AI generated content.

CNN spoke with Josh Gerben to understand the legal strategy behind the filings. 

“The inclusion of the sound marks, which is a lesser known category of trademark protection, really sets these filings apart from others,” said Josh Gerben. “Attempting to register a celebrity’s spoken voice is a new use of trademark registration that has not been tested in court before,” he noted.

According to Gerben, “Matthew McConaughey filed similar applications, which test new theories on how trademark law will work in the AI age.”

Copyright protection, which would typically protect an artist’s work from imitation, won’t guard against AI-generated content. “AI technologies now allow users to generate entirely new content that mimics an artist’s voice without copying an existing recording, creating a gap that trademarks may help fill,” Gerben said.

“In theory Swift could claim that any use of her voice or image that are “confusingly similar” to the trademarks violate her rights,” he said.

Source: Ziady, Hanna. https://www.cnn.com/. “Taylor Swift files trademark applications to protect her voice and image from AI”. 28 April 2026.