It may not have been worthy of a gold medal, but it didn’t take long for Australian break dancer Raygun to realise her performance at the Paris Olympic Games was unique.
Deemed a performance flop not just by the judges but by viewers around the world, comedians saw an opportunity and attempted to use her image and moves in stage shows and musicals as Raygun’s fame rose in the weeks and months after the performance in 2024.
Rachael Gunn (Raygun) quickly realised the need to protect her infamous kangaroo silhouette pose and name, and set about filing four trade mark applications, including for her stage name ‘Raygun’ and an image of her kangaroo dance move according to media reports. The trade mark applications were subsequently registered.
This legal manoeuvre blocked others from using her name and likeness for commercial purposes for certain goods and services after her Olympic performance became an instant global meme. And while the threat of legal action didn’t shut down the show, it was reworked to avoid potential legal infringement and ultimately went on to be a sell-out success for those with the nous to commercialise Raygun’s somewhat unfortunate notoriety.
At the time, questions were raised about Raygun’s legal action, but she was adamant that the move to protect her name as a trade mark was because there were applications from other parties trying to trade mark her name and image for commercial purposes.
As the comedians hoping to make money from her fame quickly discovered, satirising someone doesn’t mean you aren’t infringing various forms of their intellectual property.
The stage show went ahead and as the opening graphic disclaims, any resemblance to any other public figure was merely a coincidence. Comedian Steph Broadbridge used the controversy to her advantage, opening to sold-out shows across the comedy festivals held in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, followed by a regional tour.
Legal protections
In a world where influencers and content creators are constantly gaining fame and fortune, their identity is the brand. But it’s not just the Taylor Swifts of the world who can use the law to protect their image, this legal route is for anyone whose personal identity is their brand.
In fact, a growing number of creators are seeking legal protection for their original work and engaging lawyers to safeguard their identity.
The Australian IP Report 2026 reveals that a growing number of Australian businesses are engaging with the IP system as international dynamics shift.
Trade mark applications reached a record 97,345 in 2025, reflecting increasingly diverse activity, with a 15 per cent increase in filings from Australian residents.
“The data shows the global innovation system is changing, with more fragmented patterns of trade and collaboration as firms use IP rights more selectively to enter markets, position products and complete internationally,” says Dr Michael Falk, chief economist at IP Australia.
“At the same time, Australian businesses continue to engage with the IP system as international dynamics shift, and we saw growth in Australian resident filings across all IP rights in 2025,” Dr Falk says.
Trade marks as identity protection
Florence Lundon-Moore, Associate at Griffith Hack works with creators, start-ups and established brand owners on protecting their brands in Australia and overseas.
She explains that a trade mark signifies the origin of goods or services and distinguishes one trader’s goods or services from those of another, acting as a badge of origin and protection for creators. Accordingly, a trade mark registration gives creators an exclusive statutory right over their unique trade mark.
Recognised as a legal patchwork of protections that overlap to guard a personal brand, a trade mark could protect a plain word, a logo, or even a sound, shape, movement, smell, colour or a combination of the above to create a legal boundary for a company or individual.
“Once your trade mark has been examined and registered, you hold an exclusive statutory right to that trade mark and the owner can display the ‘®’ symbol alongside it. That signals to the market that the mark is registered which can have a real deterrent effect on potential infringers” she says.
“Not every sign will qualify as a registrable trade mark. In Australia, trade marks need to be capable of acting as a ‘badge of origin’, a sign that identifies a connection between the goods and services of a particular trader and their course of trade. In other words, those goods need to be able to be distinguishable from goods/services dealt by another trader. It also needs to be sufficiently distinctive (i.e. it does not describe the goods or services).”
—Florence Lundon-Moore
Getting early advice on trade mark selection is one of the most effective steps a creator or trader can take to help ensure the chosen mark is both registrable and defensible from the outset.
How it protects creators
In some cases, automatic copyright can protect a creator’s works in Australia, but it is not a substitute for trade mark protection over a name or logo. Instead, it complements the patchwork of protection. “It’s critical to act as early as possible to put trade mark protections in place to protect your intellectual property, Florence explains.
“Registration allows you to stop others using a mark that is substantially identical or deceptively similar to yours. It also signals to consumers that the mark belongs to you and is legally protected, which protects the trust you have built in your brand,” she explains.
But the goalposts are shifting. The next challenge will be how the legal fraternity can protect creators in an era increasingly dominated by Generative AI, voice cloning and deepfakes. Some of the most targeted Australian public figures who have battled against having their likeness and voices cloned include Rebel Wilson, Chris Hemsworth, Margot Robbie and Hugh Jackman.
For lawyers, this complex new technology web is likely to lead to more work. “The accessibility to this sort of technology means anyone with malicious intent can imitate others.”
Florence adds that it’s critical that legal protections are put in place at the start of the journey to fame and fortune.
“Acting only once a problem emerges puts you on the back foot. By the time your likeness is being used across the market without authority, you are trying to recover control of a brand that others have already exploited to their advantage” she says.
