Pryor Cashman Partner Simon Pulman, co-chair of the Media + Entertainment and Film, TV + Podcast Groups, spoke with IndieWire about the key artificial intelligence (AI) issues facing performers in the entertainment industry.
In "The 3 Biggest A.I. Questions That Should Have Actors Worried," Simon explains the different legal frameworks for AI-generated versions of actors in commercials vs. movies and TV shows:
Entertainment attorney Simon
Pulman, a partner at Pryor Cashman, told IndieWire that, when it
comes to filming a commercial, there are existing publicity laws
that protect an actor's likeness. For instance, can't
create an AI Brad Pitt or Sandra Bullock and have them endorsing a
product without paying them." But if AI is used to create a
composite, a completely digital creation that has been trained on
the physical appearance, voice, or mannerisms of an actor, but
doesn't necessarily look and sound like the actor, that's
where things get "tricky," he explains. And protections
get a lot more complicated if you perform an AI
resurrection."
"That is certainly an area
that varies state by state, there are certain organizations that
purport to own the likeness of dead celebrities, and they will
pursue this pretty aggressively," Pulman said.
"You've got two types of questions: What happens when
people increasingly use AI to put famous dead people in
commercials, and what happens when you put dead people in motion
pictures?"
Publicity protections, Pulman
explains, are for commercials. A movie or a TV show is a work of
expression, and Pulman says SAG-AFTRA is looking for "express,
bright line guidelines to replicate actors' names, likeness,
and performance" in a way that's an extension of their
existing contract and to supplement existing law. That's
important, because actors like James Earl Jones, 92, have already
consented to his voice being used to create synthetic versions of
Darth Vader for years to come.
The guild has already said it
expects the use of AI and digital doubles to be bargained through
the guild, and members under commercial and low-budget contracts
already have some protections around likeness, but any guidelines
will need to be specific to this contract with the AMPTP.
Guidelines released last week by IATSE may provide a hint to how
other guilds are thinking, but Pulman says it's hard to get a
full picture, simply because the technology is moving so
fast.
"There are certain use cases
that are easier to prescribe for. On one end, the very benign, and
on the other, abuses that SAG will want to limit," Pulman
said. "In the middle is more of a gray area, because we
can't see all of the uses."
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