Those in the entertainment industry have come together to show their support for a bill that outlaws digital deepfakes. It would create the first-ever federal right to one’s voice and likeness. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, introduced a revised version of the bill, along with a bipartisan group of other senators. The bill titled; No Fakes Act, would make it illegal to create an AI replica of someone or their voice without their consent.
The bill has the support of SAG-AFTRA, Disney, the Motion Picture Association, (representing several major studios), the Recording Industry Association of America, the Recording Academy and most major music labels and talent agencies.
Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, said in a statement that it's “Game over A.I. fraudsters!”. She continued with “Enshrining protections against unauthorized digital replicas as a federal intellectual property right will keep us all protected in this brave new world. Especially for performers whose livelihoods depend on their likeness and brand, this step forward is a huge win!”
The law would apply to deepfakes of everyone (famous and not-so-famous) alike. In the scheme of things, as usual, celebrities and public figures would have more at stake than mere mortals.
The NO FAKES Act allows a person's heirs controlling rights of their image and likeness for as long as 70 years after their passing, rather than expire at the time of a persons death.
Scarlett Johansson, who has been very outspoken against unauthorized usage of her likeness after her voice was used without permission in generative AI software. It's claimed that Open AI used a voice “eerily similar” to Scarlett Johansson’s after the actress turned down an offer to have her voice used for conversational AI software, the Chat GPT maker was developing. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking the issue head-on, and the bill she introduced to fight it unanimously passed the Senate last week.
Video Game Strike "Active"
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This just in from SAG headquarters
As you may know, SAG-AFTRA has called a strike against many video game companies, including some of the largest in the business.
We’d much rather be informing you about a new contract that protects members and the work they do, but the reality is that we’re facing a pivotal moment, one in which we either stand strong for what’s right or stand by and let our livelihoods and this art we care so much about face an extinction level event. Showing your support will be slightly different than in previous strikes, but your participation is as critical as ever.
We’re counting on you to post about the strike on social media, sign our letter of support and respond to digital and in-person calls to action. Find what you need to take action here.
SAG-AFTRA members who perform in video games are going on strike against all video game companies signed to the Interactive Media Agreement, effective 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 26. The vote to strike comes after more than a year and a half of negotiations without a deal.
Never one to pass up an opportunity to show off some early stages of old school Deep-Fake organic impersonations...check out the below episode of MTV's Celebrity Death Match back in the day - featuring Vee-Jay (Jesse Kemp) matched against Vee-Jay Matt Pinfield (U'rs truly). May be unsuitable for young kids.
