One global pop star is taking her reach of worldwide dominance one step further lately by copyrighting sentences she didn’t create.

One global pop star is taking her reach of worldwide dominance one step further lately by trying to trademark sentences she didn’t create. The move essentially bans anyone from using commonly used phrases she’s calling her own to decorate unnecessary junk without first gaining permission.

Word orders such as “Party Like It’s 1989” (inspired — even arguably stolen — from Prince), “Cause We Never Go Out Of Style” (a commonly used sentence) and “This Sick Beat” (appropriated from a culture not of her own), are now property of the well known singer under U.S. protection laws.

The orders filed keep anyone from using the specific formations of words to sell things such as beach towels, guitar straps, toiletries or other crap that’s going to be thrown away in a few months anyways.

But the ridiculous move isn’t anything new for celebrities. They have often used the legal boundaries of copyrighting and trademarking to their advantage in maximizing loot. Paris Hilton’s “That’s Hot, ” Mike Sorrentino’s “The Situation” and even the NFL’s “Who Dat” are all under trademark and cannot be used by anyone, other than the owner, for profit.

Which isn’t half bad, considering none of what’s in this post should ever come up in normal conversation, let alone be printed on a tshirt or Chinese-made memorabilia.

Lawyers would probably argue the main goal is to protect the brand, which is likely true, but saying a particular entity owns a pattern of words is beyond comprehension. Where exactly does a culture go when a person won’t even be able to scratch the underside of their foot one day without first obtaining permission from a business who claims to have invented fingers?