Taylor Swift™ No Copyright Infringement Intended
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About
Taylor Swift™ No Copyright Infringement Intended is a phrase used to mock Taylor Swift's aggressive pursuit defense of the copyright on her lyrics and name, most frequently on Tumblr, where users paste the copyright notice after using a number or phrase that can also be found in a Taylor Swift song or song title.
Origin
Sources differ on the origin of this meme. Buzzfeed has reported that the meme in response to a cease and desist received on September 4th, 2015 by the podcaster Alison Kilkenny, who records the podcast Citizen Radio with Jamie Kilstein.[1] Kilkenny tweeted that she had received a cease & desist for from Taylor Swift's legal team, despite having only discussed the star and recited some of her lyrics on the podcast, instead of actually playing a song.[2] Kilkenny was unclear as to why the cease & desist had been issued, but nonetheless she complied with the letter and removed the episode from iTunes. It had been previously reported [9] that in October of 2014 that Swift had copyrighted several phrases and lyrics from her hit record 1989, including:
•"Party like it's 1989"
•"This sick beat"
•"Cause we never go out of style"
•"Could show you incredible things"
•"Nice to meet you. Where you been?"
It is possible that Kilstein recited one of these copyrighted lyrics, thereby spurring the cease and desist, which caused the ridicule.
However, other sources on Reddit claim a different source for the meme.[6] Later that month, on September 13th, 2013, Niall Horan of the boy band One Direction celebrated his 22nd birthday at a concert by beginning to sing Taylor Swift's song "22," stopping after a few lines and claiming that he didn't know the words;[4] according to Tumblr user taylorswiftandmisandry, a user on Instagram posted a video of this, captioning it (Taylor Swift™ No copyright infringement intended. Property of TAS LLC Management 2014©).[5] The first posts on Tumblr using the phrase showed up on the same day; some were directly referencing Horan's birthday.[3]
Spread
The phrase can be found on hundreds of Tumblr posts, and throughout the Twitter communities of both Taylor Swift and One Direction fans. In addition it has been profiled on Buzzfeed,[1] Pollstar,[8] and Cheezburger.[9]
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Buzzfeed – There’s A New Taylor Swift Meme Sweeping Tumblr
[2] Twitter – Alison Kilkenny's Tweet
[3] Tumblr – Search: TAS LLC
[4] Twitter – NJHNlKE's tweet
[5] Tumblr – taylorswiftmisandry's post
[6] /r/outoftheloop – Answered!What's the story with the Taylor Swift copyright meme?
[7] Rollingstone – Taylor Swift Trademarks 'This Sick Beat' and Other '1989' Phrases
[8] Pollstarpro – NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED
[9] Cheezburger – "The Internet Isn't Happy About Taylor Swift's Abuse of Her Trademarks": The Internet Isn't Happy About Taylor Swift's Abuse of Her Trademarks
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Top Comments
Samekichi Kiseki Moderator
Sep 17, 2015 at 08:49PM EDT
Totally Not a Freemason
Sep 17, 2015 at 11:24PM EDT