A bipartisan group of US senators introduced the long-awaited NO FAKES Act on Wednesday (July 31), which aims to protect artists and others from artificial intelligence deepfakes and other non-consensual copies of their voices, images and likenesses.
If passed, the legislation would create federal intellectual property protections for the first time for the so-called right of publicity, which limits how someone's name, likeness, likeness and voice can be used without consent. Currently, such rights are only protected at the state level, leading to a patchwork of different rules across the country.
Unlike many existing state legal systems, the federal right that the NO FAKES Act would create would not expire upon death and could be controlled by a person's heirs for 70 years after their death. In order to balance personal publicity rights and the First Amendment right to free speech, the NO FAKES Act also includes specific carve-outs for copy used in news coverage, parody, historical works or criticism.
Non-consensual AI deepfakes are of great concern to the music industry, given that many of its top talents have already been tapped this way. Taylor Swift, for example, has been the subject of many sexually suggestive faux pas on her body. The late Tupac Shakur's voice was recently spoofed by fellow rapper Drake on Kendrick Lamar's diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which was posted and then deleted on social media. and Drake and The Weeknd had their own voices cloned by AI without their permission in the viral TikTok track “Heart On My Sleeve.”
The NO FAKES Act was originally released as a draft bill by the same group of lawmakers – Senators Chris Koons (D-DE), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tom Tillis (D-NC) — last October, and its formal introduction in the US Senate continues to build on the same principles also laid out in the No AI FRAUD Act, a similar bill introduced in the US House of Representatives earlier this year .
While the music industry overwhelmingly supports the creation of a federal right of publicity, there are some critics in other creative fields, including film/television, who threaten the passage of bills like the NO FAKES Act. In a speech during Grammy week earlier this year, the president/CEO of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) David the Israelite explained that “[a federal right of publicity] it doesn't stand a good chance… Within the copyright community we disagree. … Guess who's bigger than music? Cinema and TV”. However, the introduction of the NO FAKES Act and the NO AI Fraud Act demonstrate that there is bipartisan and bipartisan support for the idea.
Earlier this year, advocates of strengthened publicity rights laws celebrated a state-level victory in their fight to regulate deep-fake artificial intelligence with the passage of the ELVIS Act in Tennessee. The landmark law greatly expanded protections for artists and others in the state and expressly protected voices for the first time.
While celebrated by some in the music industry — from the Recording Academy, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Human Artistry Campaign, the NMPA and others — the act also attracted some skeptics, such as Prof. Jennifer Rothman of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, who expressed concerns that the law could be an “overreaction” that could potentially open tributes, interference or sharing of photos that a celebrity did not authorize to lawsuits.
“The Human Artistry Campaign applauds Senators Coons, Blackburn, Klobuchar and Tillis for creating strong legislation that establishes a fundamental right that gives every American control over their voices and faces against a new onslaught of hyper-realistic voice clones and deepfakes” . Dr. Moiya McTier, senior adviser to the Human Artistry Campaign — a global initiative for the responsible use of artificial intelligence, supported by 185 organizations in the music industry and beyond — says of the bill. “The NO FAKES Act will help protect people, culture and art — with clear protections and exceptions for the public interest and free speech. We urge the full Senate to prioritize and pass this vital, bipartisan legislation. The abusive deepfake online ecosystem is destroying more lives and creating more victims every day – Americans need these protections now.”
The introduction of the bill is also celebrated by the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), ASCAP, Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), Association of American Publishers, Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), BMI, Fan Alliance , co-chairman of The Azoff Company Susan JenkoNashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA), National Independent Talent Organization, National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), Organización de Voces Unidas (OVU), Production Music Association, Recording Academy, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), SAG-AFTRA, SESAC Music Group, Songwriters of North America (SoNA), SoundExchange, United Talent Agency (UTA) and WME.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/new-senate-bill-protect-artists-ai-deepfakes/
