Will Taylor Swift sue Donald Trump?
The question arose after the Republican presidential candidate shared several images on his social media platforms, some of which were generated by artificial intelligence, that suggested the singer and her fans were supporting his campaign. One image depicted Swift as an Uncle Sam-style character, with the caption, “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.” The former president added, “Sure!”
Swift may sue. There are any number of reasons why the pop star would spare no effort in suing Trump, but one legal area that could be relevant is the right of publicity, which protects people from certain unfair exploitation. The subject recently came up in another high-profile context, when OpenAI developed a voice chatbot that sounded just like Scarlett Johansson. The company later pulled the app after public criticism, but denied that it was an imitation of Scarlett’s voice. (Reps for the Trump campaign and Swift did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.)
Trump’s posts come at a time when many legal questions remain unresolved in the age of AI and the internet. At this point, there is no reason to think that this incident will result in a legal case that tests those limits. There’s no word on what the outcome of such a lawsuit would be, including what defenses Trump might assert (including under the First Amendment). But if he continues to potentially antagonize stars who appear to have other political sympathies, it may show just how litigious she is.
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