Can Taylor Swift Lyrics Be Trademarked?

Feb 10, 2018

Written By Billy Sexton, Editor, AllAboutLaw.co.uk

If Taylor Swift’s legal ventures were as pop-tastic as her latest album, 1989, then she’d probably be the best lawyer in the world.

The ‘Shake It Off’ singer wants to trademark a lyric of the same song – “This Sick Beat”. Why? It’s so that others (we’re looking at you, high street retail chains), can’t make a tidy profit from selling merchandise that contains the phrase. You can just picture the hordes of teenagers swamping city centres in white t-shirts that have three very readable words imprinted on them.

You may still see this utterly bizarre phenomenon occur anyway, but all the t-shirts would have been purchased from Swift’s online store. The question is, is Taylor Swift allowed to legally trademark her lyrics?

The short answer is a yes. Tay Tay is allowed to trademark a phrase if she can prove that she’s profiting from it being associated with her personal brand. Also, trademark rights in the US don’t require the applicant (lovely Swifty) to be absolutely unique. Bearing this in mind, it looks likely that Swift will get her trademark applications approved, so does that mean you can’t use the words “This Sick Beat”, “Party Like It’s 1989” and “Nice to meet you, where you been?”, ever again?

Fortunately, if you’re ever tempted to write a think-piece on 21st century pop lyrics, you’ll be able to use those words and have them published. This is because trademarks are listed on specific goods or services. So the t-shirts, mugs, salt shakers (geddit?) that Taylor Swift plans on selling will be protected, but won’t be on items she’s not listed.

It’s not unusual for phrases to be trademarked. US wrestling commentator trademarked the phrase “Let’s get ready to rumble!” and Donald Trump tried to get “You’re Fired!” trademarked, but failed. But what if Trump had succeeded, would Lord Alan Sugar have found himself saying “Unfortunately your application has been unsuccessful this time” on a weekly basis? Not necessarily. Global trademarks aren’t a thing, so Trump may not have got the trademark for the UK, as he is the US host.

If Taylor’s trademarks are approved, it will add a further stream of revenue into her bank account, which needs some loving after her album only sold four million copies…

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