Taylor Swift Trademarks The Phrase “This Sick Beat”
Taylor Swift’s Twitter hack didn’t expose anything particularly embarrassing, but that’s OK, there’s plenty to joke about in the public record. Consider, for instance, this Vox report that Swift has trademarked the phrase “this sick beat” — as in the “Shake It Off” lyric “You could have been getting down to this sick beat” — preventing others from printing the phrase on everything from clothing to Christmas ornaments.
Swift also trademarked several other lyrics from her blockbuster album 1989 including “Party like it’s 1989,” “Cause we never go out of style,” “Could show you incredible things,” and “Nice to meet you. Where you been?” She even trademarked the initials T.S. Check out a full list here.
Now, it bears mentioning that Swift probably makes a lot of income off of merchandise sales, and it can’t be too exciting to see vendors hawking unofficial merch outside her concerts. Just enter the phrase “this sick beat” into Google Image Search and see how many people have already repurposed it to their own ends. Remember when Drake threatened to sue Walmart over those YOLO shirts? He probably could have avoided that loss of income if he had trademarked the phrase in the first place. Combined with removing her music from Spotify, it’s further evidence that Swift is a savvy businesswoman.