Associate Dean Daryl Lim publishes on AI deepfakes and trademark law

CARLISLE—Daryl Lim, associate dean for research and strategic partnerships, published an article in The Conversation titled “Taylor Swift trademarking her voice and likeness points to a new legal frontier in combating AI deepfakes.” You can read the article by clicking here.

The article examines Taylor Swift’s recent trademark filings for aspects of her voice and likeness and explains how they reflect a broader shift in the legal response to artificial intelligence (AI)-generated deepfakes. Lim analyzes how trademark law, copyright law, and publicity rights each address different parts of the problem, with particular attention to fake endorsements, consumer confusion, and the protection of identity in an era when AI can convincingly mimic a person’s voice or image. The piece builds on Lim’s scholarship and teaching in intellectual property, technology law, and AI governance.

The Conversation publishes research-based analysis by academic experts for a general audience. Lim’s article situates Swift’s filings within current debates over generative AI, copyright litigation, trademark law, and proposed federal protections such as the NO FAKES Act. The article highlights how AI law is moving beyond the protection of creative works to address the protection of trust, identity, and endorsement signals in digital markets.

Daryl Lim is the H. Laddie Montague Jr. Chair in Law at Penn State Dickinson Law. He is also the Associate Dean for Research & Strategic Partnerships and Founding Director of the Intellectual Property (IP) Law and Innovation Initiative. At the university level, he is a co-hire at the Institute of Computational and Data Sciences and an affiliate at the Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence.

Professor Lim is an award-winning author, observer, and commentator on national and global trends in IP and competition policy and how they influence and are influenced by law, technology, economics, and politics. He helps policymakers, attorneys, corporate counsel, scholars, and the public understand the world around them. He is a founding member of the Global IP Alliance and its local chapters in Pennsylvania and Illinois. In addition, he serves as Co-Chair of the University Education Committee in the US IP Alliance.

In December 2022, the American Law Institute elected Professor Lim to its membership based on demonstrated excellence and outstanding professional achievement. In 2023, the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission recognized him as “a leading expert in antitrust law and economics” and the IAM Strategy 300, a guide to the industry pioneers with “exceptional skill sets, as well as profound insights into the development, creation, and management of IP value,” named him to its World’s Leading IP Strategists 2023 list. In 2024, he was appointed to the consultative group advising the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence. In 2025, he received the IP Professor of the Year Award at the Global Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence & Technology Conclave & Awards.