Taylor Swift's legal team has hit back at a lawsuit filed by a former Las Vegas showgirl, Maren Flagg, who alleges that the pop superstar's album title "The Life of a Showgirl" infringes on her trademark for the phrase "Confessions of a Showgirl." The lawyers dismiss the notion that there could be any confusion between the services provided by the two women as "absurd."
Flagg, who performs as Maren Wade, filed the lawsuit in late March in the United States District Court in California. She trademarked "Confessions of a Showgirl" in 2015 and has used it for a newspaper column, podcast, and cabaret performances. Her lawsuit claims that the two titles share a similar structure, dominant phrase, and overall commercial impression. Both are said to be used in overlapping markets and are directed at the same consumers.
Flagg sought a preliminary injunction that would immediately bar Swift from further use of the "Life of a Showgirl" brand. In a brief filed on Wednesday and reviewed by Variety, Swift's attorneys argue that the motion should never have been filed, stating it is simply Flagg's latest attempt to use Taylor Swift's name and intellectual property to boost her own brand.
The lawyers further state that there is little chance of confusion between Swift's top-grossing stadium tour and Flagg's cabaret appearances, which are held in small, intimate venues such as '55+ active communities,' '55+ golf resorts,' 'RV & Golf Resort,' and a '90-seat cabaret-style venue' that offers dinner, hotel, and private supper club services. Her website lists no upcoming performances.
Swift's team also questions why Flagg is seeking immediate relief based on irreparable harm eight months after the album was first announced, pointing out that Flagg spent several of those months trying to associate herself with "The Life of a Showgirl" in her messaging.
The brief states that since the album announcement, Flagg has rebranded her own business around the album, flooding her social media accounts with posts attempting to align herself with Swift and the album. Prior to the album announcement, Flagg had never used 'the life of a showgirl' in her social media promotion. However, following the announcement, she posted about the phrase or Swift/the album over 40 times on her branded Instagram and TikTok accounts.
Swift's attorneys suggest that they may be pursuing Flagg for her own unauthorized use of Swift's music and imagery. The brief reads: "Far from showing any concern about the album after its announcement, Ms. Flagg spent several months centering her brand on 'The Life of a Showgirl's' name, artwork, music, and lyrics to promote her little-known cabaret show." In fact, just four days after Swift announced her album title and artwork in August 2025, Flagg launched a new podcast mimicking Swift's album artwork, logo, title, and taglines. She then flooded her Instagram and TikTok pages with over 40 advertisements for her brand using Swift's music, trademarks, and other intellectual property without permission.
Each of these advertisements embodies a blatant infringement, the brief contends. And TASRM [TAS Rights Management] will be seeking appropriate remedies for that. In one particular post, the plaintiff utilized an album cover logo, audio from the album's title track, hashtags such as #thelifeofashowgirl, #swifties, #ts12, and #taylornation, and discussed an official album release event. In addition to attempting to mislead consumers, the plaintiff's commercial use of Ms. Swift's artwork constitutes a clear infringement under federal law.
Flagg's lawsuit alleges that the ongoing sales of Swift's album have caused significant harm to her business endeavors. Each additional sale exacerbates the confusion in the marketplace and further erodes [Wade's] ability to be recognized as the genuine source of her 'Confessions of a Showgirl' brand. The suit contends that her own site and posts have been pushed down in search results by Swift's ubiquitous branding.
In an interview with Rolling Stone following the initial filing of the lawsuit, Jaymie Parkkinen, an attorney for Flagg, stated that his client "spent more than a decade building 'Confessions of a Showgirl.' She registered it. She earned it. When Taylor Swift's team applied to register 'The Life of a Showgirl,' the Trademark Office refused," which he attributed to a conflict with Flagg's existing mark.
Swift's lawyers argue that, regardless of other factors, the pop star's album title is protected by the First Amendment. They cite cases such as Rogers v. Grimaldi and Lost Int'l, LLC v. Germanotta, where Lady Gaga was accused of appropriating her "Mayhem" album title and logo by a surfboard company. Swift's team contends based on these cases that "if a work is expressive, a plaintiff cannot establish infringement without showing the title (1) is either not artistically relevant to the underlying work; or (2) explicitly misleads as to the source or content of the work." This is because titles of expressive works "implicate the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech" and "consumers are less likely to mistake the use of someone else's mark in an expressive work for a sign of association, authorship, or endorsement." Songs and album titles are the core type of expressive First Amendment work protected by Rogers.
The attorneys also argue that works with similar titles to Flagg's trademark have come and gone without issue, including "Confessions of a Goddess," "Confessions of a Vegas Showgirl," "Portrait of a Showgirl," and "The Last Showgirl."
The brief was filed Wednesday by Max N. Wellman on behalf of himself and fellow attorneys J. Douglas Baldridge and Katherine Wright Morrone. They are representing Swift as well as her co-defendants TAS Rights Management, UMG Recordings, and Bravado International Group Merchandising Services. No trial date has been set yet.
