Darts World Champion, Luke Littler, has applied for a trade mark for his face at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), in an attempt to protect his image from unauthorised use, particularly as a safeguard against its use in AI generated content.
Littler is amongst a growing number of celebrities that have chosen to protect their image through trade mark registrations in the age of generative AI. Others include Matthew McConaughey and Cole Palmer. Some celebrities, such as Taylor Swift, have already had their likeness misused by AI in deep fake videos that can be made using online tools.
Littler’s application is currently under examination with the UKIPO, following which it will be published to the online trade marks journal. If registered, his most recent filing will join his existing trade marks on the UK register, which include the word marks ‘LUKE LITTLER’, ‘LUKE THE NUKE LITTLER’ and ‘THE NUKE’. Whilst owning a trade mark of his face does not mean that deep fake videos will not be created, and he would likely only be able to rely on his image trade mark where something very similar to his image was used, the filing shows that Littler is taking his image rights seriously, which is a move to put off potential infringers. Additionally, whilst UK law is still evolving with regards to the regulation of AI in the context of copyright, registering a trade mark is a good way to control commercial use of celebrities’ faces to the extent that is possible.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own Intellectual Property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
