Celebrities File Trademarks to Block AI Likenesses
The Backstreet Boys filed a US trademark application on June 24 to protect the sound of their voices saying "Hi, we're the Backstreet Boys," joining Taylor Swift, Lionel Richie, Matthew McConaughey, and Jimmy Kimmel in a wave of celebrity sound-mark filings meant to fight AI-generated voice clones. Music Business Worldwide reports intellectual-property attorney Josh Gerben, who first flagged the filing, calling the legal strategy untested: "Whether that strategy succeeds remains an open legal question." The filings bet that platforms like Google, Amazon, Meta, Etsy, and eBay, which already remove trademark-flagged listings without a court order, will extend the same takedown treatment to AI voice mimicry. Separately, the US Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the bipartisan NO FAKES Act on June 18, which would create the first federal voice-and-likeness right, backed by Google, OpenAI, and major record labels.
For teams building or moderating generative-audio products, this trend previews a new enforcement lever: registered sound trademarks that plug into takedown systems platforms already operate, moving faster than the federal right Congress is still debating.
What happened
Music Business Worldwide reports that the Backstreet Boys filed a US trademark application on June 24, 2026 covering the group's spoken phrase "Hi, we're the Backstreet Boys," aimed at contesting AI-generated imitations of their voices. The filing follows Taylor Swift's April registration of "Hey, it's Taylor," four song-phrase applications from Lionel Richie in June, Matthew McConaughey's registered "Alright, alright, alright," and similar filings from Jimmy Kimmel. Intellectual property attorney Josh Gerben, who first reported the Backstreet Boys filing, told Music Business Worldwide that trademark law "has never really been used this way," since marks have historically covered words, logos, and slogans rather than the sound of a voice; existing registered sound marks include the Netflix "ta-dum," the NBC chimes, and the MGM lion's roar.
Legal context
The bet, per Gerben, is that platforms including Google, Amazon, Meta, Etsy, and eBay, which already remove listings flagged as trademark-infringing without waiting for a court ruling, will extend that same automated enforcement to audio that mimics a registered voice mark. Trademark law is not artists' only option: about two dozen US states recognize right-of-publicity protections by statute, with Tennessee's 2024 ELVIS Act the first to explicitly extend voice protection to AI-generated replicas. In Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the bipartisan NO FAKES Act on June 18, 2026, which would create the first federal intellectual-property right in a person's voice and visual likeness, covering every American rather than only public figures. The bill is backed by Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Spotify, Google, OpenAI, IBM, and YouTube, though three Republican senators raised First Amendment concerns over its penalty tiers, which run up to $750,000 per work for a noncompliant platform.
Industry context
The filings follow a string of AI-likeness incidents that pressured rights holders. Actor Bryan Cranston's October 2025 complaint, backed by SAG-AFTRA, led OpenAI to tighten Sora 2's voice-and-likeness guardrails; OpenAI separately shut down the standalone Sora app entirely in late March 2026 after broader controversy over deepfakes of deceased celebrities. xAI's Grok has faced its own lawsuits, including from the city of Baltimore, over AI-generated sexualized images made without consent. YouTube has begun rolling out an AI likeness-detection tool built on its existing Content ID system.
What to watch
Whether AI platforms' trademark-enforcement systems actually extend to audio marks, and whether the NO FAKES Act reaches a full Senate vote, are the two open questions Gerben and other IP attorneys are tracking over the next 12 to 24 months.
Key Points
- 1A growing list of musicians and actors are filing sound-mark trademarks on their voices and catchphrases as a legal hedge against AI voice cloning.
- 2The strategy leans on trademark takedown systems platforms already run, though attorney Josh Gerben calls extending them to AI-generated audio legally untested.
- 3The bipartisan NO FAKES Act, advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would create a broader federal right covering every American's voice and likeness.
Scoring Rationale
Well-verified multi-source story combining a real celebrity sound-mark trend with concrete regulatory movement (NO FAKES Act advancing out of Senate Judiciary Committee) and clear operational implications for platforms handling synthetic media. Bumped slightly from 6.8 given the primary reporting and legislative specificity confirmed this audit.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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