Look What You Made Her Do – What Taylor Swift Can Teach You About Owning Your Rights
Taylor Swift has made a name for herself in the music industry, but beyond her musical talent lies a strategist carefully protecting her intellectual property.
The Masters: Ownership and Control
Taylor Swift's battle over the rights to the masters of her first six studio albums has played out in the public eye, but in light of her recent success in buying back these rights, it is worth revisiting the lessons it teaches in relation to the value intellectual property holds.
At only 15, she signed a record deal with Big Machine Records, assigning ownership of her master recordings to the label. Although this was not unusual in the music industry, this arrangement left her without legal control over the very content most people associate with her.
The portfolio of rights included not only her music, but also music videos, concert films, album artwork, and even handwritten lyrics taken from her personal diary entries, many of which are typically protected by copyright.
When the rights were sold to third parties, Taylor Swift lost most of her remaining control. In response, she began re-recording her earlier albums under the label “Taylor’s Version” which was a strategic use of copyright to regain control over distribution and monetisation. Despite the success of “Taylor’s Version”, her 2025 acquisition of the original masters underscores the ongoing value of owning the complete set of IP rights.
Taylor Swift’s story acts as a cautionary tale not only for artists but for any brand owner. Retaining control over your intellectual property, whether through copyright, trade marks or contractual rights, is essential not only for long-term brand protection but also when negotiating licensing agreements or considering the assignment of rights.
The Trade Marks: Branding and Protection
But Taylor Swift’s vigilance and determination in protecting her intellectual property does not stop there. Taylor Swift owns a vast portfolio of trade marks with over 400 active registrations across multiple jurisdictions. These include her stage name “Taylor Swift” and several variations of it, album and song titles, lyrics and phrases, tour names, the fanbase name “Swifties”, and even her cats’ names “Meredith, Olivia & Benjamin Swift”.
When looking into the rights in more detail we can see that her trade marks not only protect her music but also extend to clothing, merchandising, digital content, and even household items and other commercial products. This level of protection shows careful consideration and a forward-thinking approach that looks ahead to potential future developments with longevity in mind.
With her newly announced 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, set to release in October, Taylor Swift continues her pattern of careful brand protection, having filed the trade mark applications on the same day as the public announcement.
What Taylor Swift Can Teach Us About Brand Mastery
Intellectual property plays a critical role across all industries and while most businesses won’t need hundreds of trade marks to protect their brands, Taylor Swift’s strategic approach highlights the need to be vigilant, informed, and proactive about intellectual property.
IP protection should not be an afterthought once your business has become successful. Instead, it should be an integral part of your brand strategy from the outset. Trade marks, copyright, and other IP rights not only protect the identity of your business, but also significantly contribute towards, and enhance its commercial value and enforceability.
By proactively registering and maintaining trade marks, securing domain names, and understanding how IP laws apply to her work, Taylor Swift highlights how legal tools can be used to control brand narrative, deter infringement, and build long-term brand equity.
From a legal and brand protection perspective, Taylor Swift shows that control over copyright and trade marks directly impacts your ability to commercialise, enforce, and grow your brand. Owning your brand starts with owning your rights, so be the mastermind behind your IP strategy and speak to us about building lasting protection for your brand.
