In California, Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed two new laws, vowing to protect the digital personas of actors and other performers. These bills aim to safeguard actors' digital images and voices from unauthorized use both during their lifetime and after their death. This move reflects growing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor of artists.
Newsom stated in a video posted on social media: "We talk about California as the state of dreams and doers. Many dreamers come here, but sometimes their voices are not fully represented. Through the SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and the bill I just signed, we ensure that no one will easily give up their name, image, and likeness rights without representation or support." He was joined in the video by SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, who represents approximately 160,000 media professionals and strongly supports the new law and other AI protection measures.
Image source: This image was generated by AI, provided by the image licensing service Midjourney
Drescher added: "This legislation sends a message to the world to those who feel threatened by AI." She pointed out that while these technologies were invented by intelligent people, they often did not consider the potential for people to lose their livelihoods and be unable to support their families.
One of the laws, numbered AB2602, protects artists from contracts that allow the use of their digital voices or images, whether these contracts are for their actual work or for training AI. According to the law, such clauses are considered unfair, contrary to public policy, and apply to both existing and future contracts. Anyone with such a contract must notify the other party in writing by the 1st of the month, indicating that the terms are no longer valid.
Another law, numbered AB1836, specifically protects the digital images of performers, which are part of their posthumous publicity rights. This law protects personal identities from unauthorized commercial use. It allows the rights holders of deceased individuals to sue when their digital replicas are used in films or recordings. The rights holders are entitled to at least $10,000 or the actual amount of loss caused by unauthorized use, whichever is higher.
This law strengthens the rights of performers in a field already filled with legal disputes. This year, Drake withdrew a song featuring an AI version of the voice of the late musician Tupac Shakur due to threats of a lawsuit from Shakur's estate.
The future of generative AI and how it will replace human work was a key issue during last summer's Hollywood strike. SAG-AFTRA also reached a controversial agreement with an AI voice technology company to legally authorize the use of digital voices in videos. However, the video game performances in Hollywood voted to strike in July over AI issues.
Actors like Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson have had their images used without consent in fake ads, reflecting the chaos caused by deepfake technology. Meanwhile, many performers and tech companies are also watching whether Newsom will sign a third bill, SB1047, which requires AI developers to follow specific safety and confidentiality guidelines before training their AI models. This legislation has the support of SAG-AFTRA, nonprofit advocacy organizations, and actor Mark Ruffalo, who called on Newsom to sign it last weekend.
Ruffalo stated in a video: "All the big tech companies and the millionaires in Silicon Valley don't want to see this, which should make us start thinking immediately." He emphasized, "But AI will explode, and we will be unaware of its consequences."