Taylor Swift’s lawyers fire back at ‘absurd’ showgirl trademark lawsuit

Taylor Swift’s lawyers have responded to a Las Vegas showgirl’s trademark infringement lawsuit against the singer.

Maren Flagg, who performs as Maren Wade, brought claims for trademark infringement and unfair competition against Swift, her company TAS Rights Management and Universal Music Group, among others, in late March.

Flagg trademarked “Confessions of a Showgirl” in 2015 and has used it for a podcast and cabaret performances. She believes Swift infringed on her trademark with her 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl and has caused confusion in the marketplace and serious harm to her business.

In a brief filed on Wednesday, the singer’s legal team wrote, “This motion, just like Maren Flagg’s lawsuit, should never have been filed. It is simply Ms. Flagg’s latest attempt to use Taylor Swift’s name and intellectual property to prop up her brand…”

“Plaintiff attempts to broadly lump her cabaret show and defendants’ musical album together as ‘entertainment services.’ That comparison is absurd,” Swift’s lawyers continued, according to Variety, arguing that there is little chance of confusion between Swift’s stadium shows and Flagg’s intimate cabaret performances.

The attorneys also alleged that Flagg originally “aligned herself with Ms. Swift and the album” and used the record to promote her own business last year.

“Prior to the album announcement, plaintiff had never used ‘the life of a showgirl’ in her social media promotion. Following the announcement, plaintiff used the phrase or posted generally about Ms. Swift or the album over 40 times on her branded Instagram and TikTok accounts,” they state.

“Far from showing any concern about the album after its announcement, Ms. Flagg spent several months centering her brand on The Life of a Showgirl’s name, artwork, music, and lyrics to promote her little-known cabaret show.”

They alleged that Flagg also mimicked Swift’s album artwork, logo, title and taglines to promote a new podcast “without permission”.

“Each of these advertisements constitutes actionable infringement and TASRM (TAS Rights Management) will be pursuing appropriate remedies for that…” they added.

Flagg is seeking unspecified financial damages and an injunction stopping Swift from selling The Life of a Showgirl merchandise.

Her lawsuit noted that the pop star’s attempt to trademark the album title was rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office due to a “likelihood of confusion” with her smaller brand.