Taylor Swift sued over alleged trademark infringement for The Lifetime of a Showgirl

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A lawsuit says Taylor Swift’s The Lifetime of a Showgirl stole the highlight from the lifetime of an actual one.

Maren Wade says within the trademark infringement lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. federal court docket in California that the glittery branding of Swift’s 2025 album comes too near the aesthetic of her personal Confessions of a Showgirl.

That was the title of a column she wrote on backstage Sin Metropolis life within the Las Vegas Weekly beginning in 2014, which she became a dwell present that she took on a nationwide tour.

“Each share the identical construction, the identical dominant phrase and the identical general business impression,” the lawsuit says. “Each are utilized in overlapping markets and are directed on the identical customers.”

Wade is described as a “singer, songwriter, comic and author” within the lawsuit filed underneath her authorized title, Maren Flagg, and her Showgirl model encompasses performances, writing and digital media.

<img loading="lazy" alt="An album showing a woman in a bikini top is shown propped up on a table. The album bears the words 'The Life of a Showgirl.'" srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/3cb93eb4-b46b-45fb-8631-033d58d02550,1775059000751/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C5818%2C3845%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/3cb93eb4-b46b-45fb-8631-033d58d02550,1775059000751/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C5818%2C3845%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/3cb93eb4-b46b-45fb-8631-033d58d02550,1775059000751/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C5818%2C3845%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/3cb93eb4-b46b-45fb-8631-033d58d02550,1775059000751/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C5818%2C3845%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.5131339401820547" data-cy="image-img"/> Taylor Swift's The Lifetime of a Showgirl was launched in October 2025. (Tibrina Hobson/Getty Photos) The Lifetime of a Showgirl, Swift's stadium-packing twelfth studio album was launched in October and offered 4 million copies in its first week. Its cowl options her in Las Vegas cabaret garb, submerged in water together with her present favorite color scheme of orange and mint inexperienced.

On Tuesday, the morning after the lawsuit was filed, Swift dropped her latest video, for the album’s observe Elizabeth Taylor, which options archival footage of the Hollywood luminary who died in 2011.

'Textbook reverse confusion' Wade appeared to embrace Swift’s use of the showgirl picture initially, sharing Instagram posts that used Swift’s music, hashtags associated to the album and the mint inexperienced color scheme. However Wade’s social media presence has gone silent in latest months.

Additionally named as defendants within the lawsuit are the corporate that manages Swift’s emblems, her document label and its merchandising arm.

The lawsuit says the album, its promotion and the merchandise surrounding it prompted “textbook reverse confusion: a junior consumer’s overwhelming business presence drowns out the senior consumer’s mark, till customers start to imagine that the unique is the imitation. What plaintiff had constructed over 12 years, defendants threatened to swallow in weeks.”

A consultant for Swift declined to touch upon the lawsuit.

Wade and her lawyer say that the existence and trademark of Confessions of a Showgirl wouldn't have escaped the discover of Swift’s crew.

The lawsuit says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Workplace declined to grant a trademark registration to Lifetime of a Showgirl over potential confusion with the prevailing trademark.

“Defendants had been due to this fact positioned on precise discover that their chosen designation was more likely to be confused with a mark that already belonged to somebody,” the lawsuit says. “They continued utilizing it anyway.”

<img loading="lazy" alt="A woman poses in front of a white photowall." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/9bbb659e-72e7-47db-a40c-da153296b280,1775058221029/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C117%2C2205%2C1300%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/9bbb659e-72e7-47db-a40c-da153296b280,1775058221029/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C117%2C2205%2C1300%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/9bbb659e-72e7-47db-a40c-da153296b280,1775058221029/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C117%2C2205%2C1300%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/9bbb659e-72e7-47db-a40c-da153296b280,1775058221029/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C117%2C2205%2C1300%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.6961538461538461" data-cy="image-img"/> Singer and dancer Maren Wade attends the Tenth-anniversary celebration of Carrot Prime's residency on the Luxor Lodge and On line casino in Las Vegas on Dec. 6, 2015. (Ethan Miller/Getty Photos) A letter issued by the workplace in early March says the appliance was suspended as a result of potential confusion with one other pending trademark filed earlier for Showgirl, by a 3rd get together and pertaining to fragrance.

It additionally cited a “Probability of Confusion Refusal” primarily based on the prevailing Confessions trademark.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction completely barring Swift and her firms from utilizing the Lifetime of a Showgirl title and imagery, and financial damages to be decided at trial, together with earnings attributable to the usage of the model.