Sources for NO FAKES Act Congressional hearing
On April 30, 2024, a Congressional hearing on the NO FAKES Act took place with testimony from various perspectives. The NO FAKES Act is primarily concerned with AI and technological sources creating digital versions of real people, living or deceased, and creating new works or other potential uses of those digital recreations. Below is a compilation of sources reporting on the hearing:
New York State Assembly Bill A560C
New York’s legislature may be closing in on passing a Right of Publicity statute with New York State Assembly Bill A5605C. If so, it would be a significant development in the Right of Publicity realm as New York has been conspicuously behind other states for a very long time. As of July 20, 2020, the bill was “amended on third reading” (here’s a link to the timeline and status of the bill which also has link to the PDF of the bill itself): https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/A5605
Overall, my take is that this bill would be a step in the right direction, even as it would still amount to New York having one of more narrow or limited Right of Publicity statutes in the United States. For example, a forty year post-mortem provision is quite anemic, and creating a registry system sounds good on paper but in my experience is not particularly helpful yet introduces various problems. Video games are not on the list of exempted works, as they should not be, and also to its credit, the bill has meaningful provisions in relation to Deepfakes and the problems such technology present in the modern world.
The progress of this bill seems already to have traveled further than past efforts. Hopefully, tired refrains like “this bill exists only to enrich a few wealthy estates” are worn-out by now and find no traction. Does copyright and trademark exist only to enrich a few wealthy creators or companies? Observations of past legislative efforts in New York are addressed in the following link I made on the topic: https://rightofpublicity.com/observations-about-new-yorks-assembly-bill-a-8155b
Internet scam ads could trigger Right of Publicity claims
An article in the January/February 2014 issue of The Atlantic entitled Jesse Willms, the Dark Lord of the Internet examines how one person has made a fortune from promoting products with deceptive or even fraudulent online advertisements. The article reports that the ads have included use of either the names or images of famous people.
The article talks about Oprah Winfrey and others who have filed lawsuits based on the fraudulent aspects of the ads, but I wonder if those lawsuits included Right of Publicity claims as well? Without examining the mechanics (jurisdiction, among other things), perhaps a meaningful damages award for a Right of Publicity infringement would serve as a bit of a deterrent?
Here’s a link to the online version of the article in The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/01/the-dark-lord-of-the-internet/355726/