A Las Vegas performer is suing Taylor Swift for trademark infringement over her latest album’s “showgirl” branding.
Swift's 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” was announced in August and debuted in October. The glitzy album art, complete with art deco imagery and glamorous feathered outfits, centered burlesque aesthetics for Swift’s newest era.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, singer and columnist Maren Wade claims Swift's album and her newspaper column-turned-show, titled “Confessions of a Showgirl," include similarities.
“Both share the same structure, the same dominant phrase, and the same overall commercial impression,” says the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. “Both are used in overlapping markets and are directed at the same consumers.”
The weekly column about Wade’s life in the entertainment industry launched in Las Vegas Weekly in 2014 and has since evolved into a podcast and a live cabaret show. Wade’s “Confessions of a Showgirl” branding has been trademarked since 2015. Her lawsuit claims Swift and her team should have noticed the similarities.
“Maren spent more than a decade building CONFESSIONS OF A SHOWGIRL. She registered it. She earned it,” Wade’s attorney, Jaymie Parkkinen, wrote in a statement. “When Taylor Swift’s team applied to register THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL, the Trademark Office refused, finding Swift’s mark confusingly similar.”
Representatives for Swift and UMG declined to comment.
The lawsuit claims the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office notified Swift’s team that “The Life of a Showgirl” was likely to be confused with an existing trademark but that she “continued using it anyway” without contacting Wade.
45 second breakdown of Taylor Swift’s new album
Because Swift’s “overwhelming commercial presence” is capable of drowning out Wade’s original branding, the lawsuit says, consumers might begin to assume that Wade’s brand is an imitation of Swift’s newer one.
“We have great respect for Swift’s talent and success, but trademark law exists to ensure that creators at all levels can protect what they’ve built,” Parkkinen added. “That’s what this case is about.”
Wade asks the court to permanently prevent Swift and her companies from using “The Life of a Showgirl” as a brand name on products or services, as well as to hand over to Wade all profits earned from the sale of goods under the “Life of a Showgirl” branding. She also seeks a jury trial and further monetary compensation.
TAS Rights Management, the company managing Swift’s trademarks, and Bravado, UMG’s global merchandise and brand management division, were also named as defendants. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Wade’s lawsuit also pointed to the defendants’ own previous legal actions to protect Swift’s trademarks.
“Indeed, they are not merely familiar with trademark law—they are among its most vigorous enforcers, having filed multiple federal actions to seize goods from vendors selling trademarked merchandise near concert venues,” the complaint says. “They possess direct knowledge of the harm that trademark infringement inflicts on a brand, having leveraged that very harm in federal court when it served their interests to do so.”
Before she filed the lawsuit, Wade had expressed positive sentiments about Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” on her social media platforms, sharing an Instagram post captioned “In my showgirl era.” Several of her Instagram posts also included hashtags promoting Swift’s album.
“People that are like, ‘Oh, I don’t like Taylor Swift’ — OK girl, if you’re not fun, just say that,” Wade said in another video, captioned “Let us be excited for #TS12 #TheLifeofAShowgirl”
