Senators are pushing to introduce a bill as early as June that would lay down rules to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in the music and film industries, an effort that comes with new AI tensions in Hollywood. is compatible.
The NO FAKES Act – which stands for Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe – is a bipartisan proposal to prevent individuals or companies from using AI to create unauthorized digital copies of their likeness or voice. will give
The lead sponsor is Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), who chairs the Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee.
According to Senate aides, he and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Tom Tillis (R-NC) are still working out the details with artists, the recording industry and the film industry.
“We have to have a national AI bill or the world will not be the same as we know it,” Klobuchar said.
“Songwriters, performers, and our incredibly talented creative community deserve the right to own their voice, image and likeness,” added Blackburn, the lead Republican on the bill.
Concerns about the impact of AI on the entertainment industry have intensified this past week due to a dispute between actress Scarlett Johansson and OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
He accused OpenAI of using a “pretty similar” voice to him for its new chatbot even though he turned down the company's request to use his voice. OpenAI has since stopped using voice, but didn't say why.
Music artists are also increasingly concerned that their own names, likenesses, and voices have little protection for creating AI-generated songs.
Singers Ariana Grande and Lenny Wilson are among those who have already had their voices copied without their permission, while last year an anonymous artist released a song called “Heart on My Sleeve” that featured Drake and The Weeknd's voices were misrepresented.
“The toothpaste is already out of the tube,” musician Sheryl Crow said earlier this month while attending an annual lobbying push in Washington known as Grammys on the Hill.
“We have to try to find some way to create parameters and guardrails. We've already seen artists whose voices have been used after they've passed. We're still seeing artists being used when They have nothing to do with anything that's been put out and that's scary.”
There are some big questions for senators before any national AI bill comes up for a vote.
They have to figure out whether the law will preempt a particular patchwork of state laws that already exist, such as the ELVIS Act in Tennessee.
They also have to determine how long the licensing and transfer of an artist's digital copy will be restricted and how long postmortem rights will remain in place.
A draft version of the bill would allow a decedent's heirs, executors or assigns to make digital copies for a period of 70 years, after an equal period of copyright protection.
Some in the film industry want zero years, while some in the music industry believe it should go forever. Others believe it should only survive as long as the work is being commercialized.
The film industry supports protecting artists from unauthorized copying of their likenesses and voices, but has warned lawmakers to be careful not to limit First Amendment rights and regulate the content of speech. stay
Motion Picture Association senior vice president Ben Schaffner said on April 30 that “our industry must meet the goal of addressing these harms without inadvertently chilling the legitimate, constitutionally protected use of technologies for storytelling.” So a very careful draft will have to be prepared.” Testifying before the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property.
Schaffner points to an example from the movie Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks. Filmmakers then used digital replica technology to depict Gump's interactions with historic presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and did not require the consent of the heirs.
The concern is that if consent were required, states would have the ability to censor images they don't like, which would violate the First Amendment.
The man in charge of the Grammys, Recording Academy Chief Executive Harvey Mason Jr., is encouraged by the discussions in Washington led by Senator Coons.
“It was great to see how receptive people on both sides of the aisle are to the issue of protecting the image, voice and likeness of creators,” Mason said after meeting with the White House and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The House has a bill of its own to combat AI crimes in the entertainment industry called the No AI Fraud Act, which also aims to establish a federal framework to protect one's voice and likeness.
A Senate Republican aide told Yahoo Finance that discussions with the House have begun, but are in the early stages as the details of the Senate bill unfold.
It's unclear what role Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D, NY) will play in the potential legislation.
He unveiled a long-awaited roadmap this month detailing steps to take to address the risks and advances in artificial intelligence to congressional committees.
While the new roadmap does not refer to specific AI entertainment legislation, it does refer to the need for legislation that would protect against the unauthorized use of one's name, image, likeness and voice in accordance with First Amendment principles. Is.
In general, Schumer is not trying to push through a full legislative AI package, but is more likely to pass legislation piecemeal. Some types of stand-alone legislation may be linked to others that must be passed.
With six months left in the current Congressional election year, Senate aides are still hopeful something can happen.
“There are going to be huge innovations with AI, but we have to allow people to own their own voices and their own artistic works,” Klobuchar said.
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