Taylor Swift May Not Be America’s Sweetheart After All

According to some reports, Taylor Swift has been a mean girl lately. According to the Daily Beast, Taylor’s legal team has gone after people, even for small reasons.

“I wasn’t going to do anything with it, until out of the blue I got a cease and desist letter from TAS Rights Management,” said Ronnie Cremer. He’s talking about ITaughtTaylorSwift.com, which he owns, and he’s noticeably upset. They told him in three days he would have to give up his website. Cremer wondered why of all of the thousands of websites out there that incorporate the name Taylor Swift are they coming after him.

Cremer isn’t the only one to receive threats from Taylor Swift’s cease and desist brigade. Last week, users of online arts marketplace Etsy received a cease and desist letter from Swift’s legal team. All of this came just a couple days after Taylor Swift’s legal team registered assorted lyrics, including “this sick beat,” according to the Guardian.

“While there are precedents in the world of celebrity and sport, Swift is the first musician to make a pre-emptive strike against opportunistic third parties. Trademarks are like copyright in battle armour. While not totally impervious to direct attack, their main function is to scare off anyone even thinking about mounting an attack.”

Some see Swift’s moves as good business, while others see her moves as hypocritical to her sweetheart image. One fan on Reddit was not impressed with Taylor Swift‘s latest moves.

“I found out about her trade marking certain phrases like ‘this sick beat.’ I mean I can see why she’d do it and I thought that well it’ll stop big businesses from ripping her off but surely fans would be too small for her to bother with. Then I read this article and I just felt really cheap after she said one of the main reasons for her success was her close connection to her fans.”

Taylor’s latest moves certainly haven’t affected her record sales. This past week, Swift notched her 11th week at No. 1 on the album charts with 1989. On the singles charts, she is at No. 5 with “Shake it Off” and No. 9 with “Blank Space.” Both were recent number one hits. Her latest single “Style” is currently No. 18 and is headed towards No. 1, perhaps within the next three weeks.

One has to remember that Taylor Swift doesn’t make all the decisions in her career. It’s likely that her management decided to crack down on people, even if they are going too far. Does Taylor Swift’s latest legal moves make you uncomfortable? Tell us in the comments section.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]