The Tale of Two Showgirls

Wei Wei Jeang

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you would have heard of Taylor Swift's album "The Life of a Showgirl" and danced to her songs. Now, the mega popstar has been accused of trademark infringement.

Filed on March 30, 2026 in the Central District of California, Maren Flagg, who performs under the stage name "Maren Wade," has filed a lawsuit against Ms. Swift, her IP rights management company, record company, and merchandising company, accusing them of infringing her CONFESSIONS OF A SHOWGIRL trademark. In addition, the complaint alleged false designations of origin, and unfair competition under a California statute.

In 2014, Ms. Flagg launched a weekly column for Las Vegas Weekly called CONFESSIONS OF A SHOWGIRL that featured candid stories from inside the entertainment industry. From the success of this column, she developed and created a touring live show, a book, a podcast, and a YouTube channel under this trademark. Ms. Flagg registered her trademark in 2015 with the USPTO that covers generally entertainment and educational services.

In August 2025, Swift adopted THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL as her album title and rolled out a full commercial merchandise program under that name — candles, tumblers, hairbrushes, and apparel. The program extended to national brand partnerships with Starbucks, KitchenAid, Krispy Kreme, and Uber Eats. After Ms. Swift's rights management company filed a trademark application for THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL on August 11, 2025, the examiner cited Ms. Flagg's trademark registration as the basis of refusal due to the likelihood of confusion between the two marks. Ms. Flagg's complaint pointed to this fact that Ms. Swift has willfully infringed her trademark even if her legal team somehow didn't uncover the potential conflict before launching the album and other commercial activities. Ms. Flagg is accusing Ms. Swift of reverse confusion, where "a junior user's overwhelming commercial presence drowns out the senior user's mark, until consumers begin to assume that the original is the imitation." Ms. Flagg is seeking to permanently stop Ms. Swift's use of the mark, treble damages, and her costs of the lawsuit as well as attorneys' fees.

What This Means for Brand Owners

This case is another reminder to engage an experienced trademark counsel to diligently conduct a clearance search before adopting a trademark and launching into commercial activities.