Entertainment Industry Celebrates AI Bills That Fight Digital Replicas

Published: September 20, 2024 Photo fr om Meriç Dağlı via Unsplash Entertainment Industry Celebrates AI Bills That Fight Digital Replicas

By Movieguide® Contributor

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed two bills that will create better protections for performers and others concerned about AI digital versions of their likenesses.

"We're making sure that no one turns over their name, image and likeness to unscrupulous people without representation or union advocacy," Newsom said of the new bills. 

AB 1836 "expands the scope of the state's postmortem right of publicity, including the use of digital replicas," per Deadline. This means that anyone seeking to recreate the voice and likeness of a deceased person would need to have permission from their estate. 

The other bill, AB 2602, increases "protections for artists in contract agreements over the use of their digital likenesses."

"It is a momentous day for SAG-AFTRA members and everyone else because the AI protections we fought so hard for last year are now expanded upon by California law thanks to the legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom," SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a press release from Gov. Newsom's office. "They say as California goes, so goes the nation!"

Gov. Newsom also signed a series of bills that would limit deepfakes in election campaigns. 

"Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it's critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public's trust through disinformation — especially in today's fraught political climate," Gov. Newsom said in a statement, via AP News. "These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI."

Movieguide® previously reported on Gov. Newsom's work to legislate AI:

Artificial intelligence's power continues to grow, and lawmakers are stepping in to protect those who could be harmed by it.

Not only is the tech taking over aspects of some people's jobs, but it also can "mimic humans convincingly enough to fuel massive phone scams or spin up nonconsensual deepfake imagery of celebrities to be used in harassment campaigns," according to The Verge.

Because of its growing capabilities, California Governor Gavin Newsom is about to make a decision on a bill that would regulate AI's power.

The bill, SB 1047 which enacts the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act, would require "that a developer, before beginning to initially train a covered model, as defined, comply with various requirements, including implementing the capability to promptly enact a full shutdown."

Other aspects of the regulation explain that developers must "implement a written and separate safety and security protocol, as specified."

"The bill would require a developer to retain an unredacted copy of the safety and security protocol for as long as the covered model is made available for commercial, public, or foreseeably public use plus 5 years, including records and dates of any updates or revisions and would require a developer to grant to the Attorney General access to the unredacted safety and security protocol,"  the bill continues.