Taylor Swift seeks EU voice registration to combat AI threats

Taylor Swift has filed a petition with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to protect her voice against potential misuse by artificial intelligence. The request, submitted via her company TAS Rights Management LLC, specifically seeks to register the audio recording of the phrase ‘Hey, it’s Taylor Swift’ for musical and entertainment services under Class 41 of the Nice Classification.

This legal move aims to provide an extra layer of protection beyond existing image rights, allowing the artist to challenge not only identical reproductions but also imitations that are ‘confusingly similar’. The initiative follows similar efforts by Swift in the United States to safeguard her voice and image from AI-generated deepfakes.

The filing comes shortly after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni submitted a similar request to protect her own voice. If approved by the EUIPO, the registration would grant Swift exclusive rights to the audio file across the 27 EU member states for a period of ten years.