Tag: Digital Replicas
California Considers a Digital Replica Law for the Dead
Joining the frenzy of states trying to address concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) and particularly concerns expressed by the recording industry, Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan introduced a right of publicity bill in the California legislature, AB 1836, that would add a digital replica provision to California's postmortem right of publicity statute, Cal. Civ. Code §...
Tennessee Governor Signs ELVIS Act, Greatly Expanding State’s Publicity Statute
Yesterday, Governor Bill Lee signed into law the ELVIS Act which replaces the prior right of publicity statute in Tennessee. It goes into effect on July 1st. I analyzed the new law in detail earlier this week. The law uncontroversially adds voice to the enumerated protections but also greatly expands the scope of liability and...
House Hearing on AI Takes Seriously the Dangers of Transferring Rights to a Person’s Voice and Likeness
Last Friday, February 2nd, the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet considered what, if anything, to do about AI and the unauthorized use of a person's voice and likeness. The hearing was held in Los Angeles to coincide with Grammys weekend. The hearing focused in part on the recently proposed No AI...
House’s Draft AI Bill Risks Loss of Control over Our Own Voices and Likenesses
***UPDATED TO REFLECT INTRODUCTION TO CONGRESS On January 9, 2024, Representative Maria Salazar circulated a draft of a bill to address voice and likeness rights in the context of AI. The bill is titled “No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas and Unauthorized Duplications Act of 2024,” shorthanded as the “No AI FRAUD Act.” Unfortunately, despite its...
Draft Digital Replica Bill Risks Living Performers’ Rights over AI-Generated Replacements
The NO FAKES ACT released as a discussion draft last week proposes establishing a new federal digital replica right that would extend 70 years after a person’s death. The one-pager accompanying the draft highlights that the legislation is driven by concerns that “unauthorized recreations from generative artificial intelligence (AI)” will substitute for performances by the...
Senate Circulates Draft of Digital Replica Bill
A draft of a digital replica bill to address concerns over AI-generated performances and sound recordings has just been made public, along with a related one-pager. This follows in the wake of the Senate's July hearing on copyright and AI. I previously submitted comments to the Senate after the hearing in anticipation of such legislation. ...
Submission to Congress in Wake of AI Concerns
In July at a Senate hearing about Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property, several Senators and witnesses floated the possibility of adopting a new federal right of publicity or a more limited "digital impersonation" or digital replica law. In light of these calls and the seriousness with which they are being taken, I prepared a two-pager...
New York Governor Signs New Postmortem Right of Publicity Bill
On November 30th, 2020, the Governor of New York signed into law a new postmortem provision which for the first time will add a postmortem right to the state's law, lasting 40 years after death. This new law also addresses the unlawful dissemination and publication of "sexually explicit depictions," and adds a digital replica right...
New York Reintroduces Much Improved Postmortem Right of Publicity Bill
During its usual off-season, the New York legislature is revisiting its multi-year efforts to add new sections to its civil rights law and in particular to add a postmortem provision to state law. This latest version would add two sections to NY's Civil Rights Law, what it dubs a new “right of publicity” and a...