Copyright Versus Trademark: What’s the Difference?

A few weeks ago, Taylor Swift (yes, her again) filed for trademark protection (again) for various catchphrases related to her latest album, 1989, such as “This Sick Beat” and “Swiftmas.” Even though musicians do this all the time for merchandising purposes, for some reason it’s particularly newsworthy when Swift does it. But what grabbed my attention this time wasn’t the inexplicable backlash she got (if Ed Sheeran had done it, would people have been so quick to judge?), but the factually inaccurate headlines that went along with it.

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