Taylor Swift is facing a trademark infringement lawsuit that claims her record-smashing latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, has eclipsed an existing brand called “Confessions of a Showgirl.”
The complaint, filed on Monday (March 30) and obtained by Billboard, is brought by Las Vegas-based performer Maren Wade. Since 2015, Wade has had a trademark on the name “Confessions of a Showgirl” for a touring cabaret show about the humorous escapades of a modern-day entertainer.
Wade alleges her intellectual property has been trampled by similar phrasing in The Life of a Showgirl, Swift’s mega-successful 12th studio album that spent 12 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and sold a record 4 million units in its first week this past October. Swift had tried to trademark the album’s title, but her efforts were rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office due to a “likelihood of confusion” with Wade’s brand.
According to Wade, customers have indeed been confused as to whether there’s a connection between The Life of a Showgirl and “Confessions of a Showgirl.” But she says this hasn’t caused any market harm to Swift, given the superstar’s “substantially greater commercial scale.” Wade alleges she’s been the sole victim of the similarity, and the new Swift era “threatened to swallow” her much smaller business.
“As a solo performer operating in the same entertainment space, she found herself having to navigate the wave of consumer attention defendants’ program had generated and attempting to maintain her presence in a conversation and a marketplace that defendants had overtaken,” reads Wade’s lawsuit.
Wade is now bringing claims for trademark infringement and unfair competition against Swift, her company TAS Rights Management, Universal Music Group (UMG) and the major label’s merch subsidiary Bravado. The lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages and an injunction stopping Swift from selling The Life of a Showgirl consumer products, including apparel, drinkware, candles and hairbrushes.
Notably, Wade’s trademark claims focus solely on merch sales related to Swift’s album, not the underlying music itself. The complaint says, “Plaintiff, as a performer herself, respects Taylor Swift’s right to creative expression, and nothing in this action challenges it.”
Swift’s reps did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit on Monday. A UMG spokesperson declined to comment.
