Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey recently revealed that he has applied for, and successfully registered, trade marks for his iconic catchphrase ‘alright, alright, alright’, and his likeness. This follows from his concerns and vocal criticism surrounding AI and its use in film media, with McConaughey’s rationale being that he only ever wants to feature in media if he has personally signed off on it.
With this, McConaughey now owns registered trade marks of clips of him smiling, staring and talking, which has essentially allowed him to protect his appearance, voice and mannerisms. The main-card trade mark registration is an audio clip of McConaughey repeating his catchphrase ‘alright, alright, alright’, which has become synonymous with the A-lister. One particular point of interest is that sound marks are often refused registration on the basis of lacking distinctive character, a ground easily overcome by McConaughey given his celebrity reputation and the public’s association with his phrase.
While McConaughey is partnered with an emerging AI voice generation company named ElevenLabs, with the aim of producing Spanish versions of his newsletters, he has become an outspoken critic of AI use that infringes upon one’s likeness, citing AI misuse as the main motive of the recent registrations. With growing uncertainty around AI misuse, especially in recent news in the UK surrounding Grok which is another AI chatbot developed by xAI, a company founded by Elon Musk, having the support of intellectual property specialists is more valuable than ever.
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.
