Trademark filing at the European Union office
On 5 October 2026, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni submitted an application to trademark her voice with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The submission was filed through a Rome law firm and a company based in the Marche region that specializes in intellectual property protection. According to EUIPO records, the filing includes a four-second audio recording in which Meloni repeats the Italian phrase "Io sono Giorgia Meloni" ("I am Giorgia Meloni") twice. The application seeks protection across three specific service classifications, consisting of downloadable multimedia content, cultural activities, and the organization of political demonstrations. Officials at the EU agency confirmed that the application is currently under formal examination.
Past targeting and legal actions
The audio excerpt in the application draws directly from Meloni's speech at a 2019 political rally, where she declared herself a mother, an Italian, and a Christian. That speech became a viral disco remix and later served as the title of her 2021 autobiography, "Io sono Giorgia." Meloni has repeatedly been the target of manipulated online media, including a fabricated image that depicted her sitting on a bed in her underwear. In 2024, she initiated civil proceedings against a man from Sardinia accused of generating and circulating sexually explicit deepfake imagery of her face, a lawsuit that remains pending in Italian court. She has warned social media users that synthetic media is designed to deceive and harm individuals across society.
I can defend myself, but many others cannot.
Legal recourse and entertainment industry precedents
Italian media outlets noted that a registered trademark will not technically block software from replicating Meloni's voice, though it provides a new legal mechanism to challenge unauthorized commercial and public use. The prime minister follows Italian singer Giusy Ferreri, who submitted a similar voice copyright filing to the EUIPO several months prior. International performers have sought comparable protections against synthetic cloning, including actor Matthew McConaughey, who patented his image, and stars such as Cate Blanchett and George Clooney, who established a free public registry. In 2024, pop star Taylor Swift was targeted by explicit AI imagery, while actor Scarlett Johansson challenged OpenAI over a chatbot voice modeled closely on her speech. A court in Japan also granted legal protection to a voice actor whose distinctive baritone was replicated without consent on TikTok.
Proliferation and economics of synthetic audio
The initiative coincides with a sharp reduction in the financial and technical barriers required to create synthetic voices and videos. Security company McAfee recorded a 900% annual increase in deepfake media, along with a 1,300% jump in voice cloning and audio fraud offenses, while total fraud attempts climbed over 3,000% with attacks rising 700% year-on-year in 2026. A September 2025 assessment by Kaspersky showed that an audio deepfake requires approximately 30 dollars and three to five seconds of source audio to yield an 85% vocal match, compared to 50 dollars for video. Research from IdentifAI indicates that video represents the primary deepfake vector, while political targeting and financial fraud constitute the leading motivations behind synthetic media campaigns.