Matthew McConaughey’s lawyers want you to know that using AI to replicate the actor’s famous catchphrase is not “alright, alright, alright.”
Attorneys for entertainment law firm Yorn Levine representing McConaughey have secured eight trademarks from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over the last several months for their client, which they said is aimed at protecting his voice and likeness from unauthorised AI misuse.
Those include a sound mark on audio of McConaughey saying, “Alright, alright, alright!” — his memorable line from the 1993 comedy film “Dazed and Confused,” which is closely associated with the actor. Other trademarks include a 7-second video clip of him standing on a porch; a 3-second clip of him sitting in front of a Christmas tree; and audio of him saying “Just keep livin’, right?” followed by a pause, then “I mean,” followed by another pause, and ending with “What are we gonna do?”
Per the trademark registration for the “Alright, alright, alright” sound mark: “The mark consists of a man saying ‘ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT’, wherein the first syllable of the first two words is at a lower pitch than the second syllable, and the first syllable of the last word is at a higher pitch than the second syllable.” The actor’s lawyers applied for trademark protection on “alright, alright, alright” in December 2023 and the USPTO granted approval in December 2025.
State rights-of-publicity laws already protect actors and other celebrities from having their image or likeness ripped off to sell products. However, the Yorn Levine legal team pursued the novel trademark strategy so McConaughey has standing to sue in U.S. federal courts if need be. They say the trademarks could help deter “misuse” more broadly, including for AI video that isn’t explicitly selling anything.
“I don’t know what a court will say in the end. But we have to at least test this,” said Yorn Levine partner and co-founder Kevin Yorn. In addition to representing McConaughey, Yorn reps other top Hollywood actors, including two of the highest box-office grossing actors of all time, Zoe Saldaña and Scarlett Johansson.
Jonathan Pollack, Yorn Levine of-counsel attorney, added, “In a world where we’re watching everybody scramble to figure out what to do about AI misuse, we have a tool now to stop someone in their tracks or take them to federal court.”
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The lawyers said the trademarks for McConaughey also give him protections to develop new opportunities offered by AI technology. McConaughey recently announced a partnership with AI voice company ElevenLabs to replicate a version of his newsletter “Lyrics of Livin’” in Spanish with a likeness of his voice. McConaughey is an investor in ElevenLabs, as is Yorn through venture-capital firm BroadLight Capital, where he is a co-founder and partner.
The eight trademarks associated with McConaughey are registered to J.K. Livin Brands Inc., based in Sherman Oaks, California, the parent of the actor’s Just Keep Livin apparel business.
From Variety US