Tag: Legislation
Comments Submitted to Copyright Office on the Right of Publicity and AI
In response to the Copyright Office's Notice of Inquiry and Request for Comments on Artificial Intelligence and Copyright, I submitted comments, particularly focused on the Office's questions pertaining to the right of publicity and the use of a person's likeness or performance in the context of generative AI. These comments sweep more broadly than those...
Draft Digital Replica Bill Risks Living Performers’ Rights over AI-Generated Replacements
The NO FAKES ACT released as a discussion draft last week proposes establishing a new federal digital replica right that would extend 70 years after a person’s death. The one-pager accompanying the draft highlights that the legislation is driven by concerns that “unauthorized recreations from generative artificial intelligence (AI)” will substitute for performances by the...
Senate Circulates Draft of Digital Replica Bill
A draft of a digital replica bill to address concerns over AI-generated performances and sound recordings has just been made public, along with a related one-pager. This follows in the wake of the Senate's July hearing on copyright and AI. I previously submitted comments to the Senate after the hearing in anticipation of such legislation. ...
Submission to Congress in Wake of AI Concerns
In July at a Senate hearing about Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property, several Senators and witnesses floated the possibility of adopting a new federal right of publicity or a more limited "digital impersonation" or digital replica law. In light of these calls and the seriousness with which they are being taken, I prepared a two-pager...
Louisiana’s Allen Toussaint Legacy Act Heads to Governor’s Desk
After several years of trying, the Allen Toussaint Legacy Act has now passed both chambers of the Louisiana legislature and was sent yesterday to the Governor for signature. The Act, SB426, is named after the famed New Orleans musician, songwriter, and producer, Allen Toussaint who died in 2015. The proposed law provides individuals with a...
New York Reintroduces Much Improved Postmortem Right of Publicity Bill
During its usual off-season, the New York legislature is revisiting its multi-year efforts to add new sections to its civil rights law and in particular to add a postmortem provision to state law. This latest version would add two sections to NY's Civil Rights Law, what it dubs a new “right of publicity” and a...
California Passes Law to Allow Student Athletes to Commercialize Their Identities
Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB206 which requires NCAA member universities to allow student athletes to sign endorsement deals and with agents and attorneys without losing their amateur status. Other states are following California's lead and introducing similar bills, and Congress has introduced a bill in the House along similar lines. I recently published...
New York Legislative Session Ends With No Vote on Right of Publicity Bill
The New York legislature closed its session without taking up the proposed right of publicity and privacy bill.
In final hours, New York Makes Last Minute Changes to Right of Publicity Bill
Apparently dropping around midnight Sunday, the New York legislature made a set of last-minute changes to the proposed right of publicity bill. The amendments focused solely on addressing broadcasters' concerns that remasters of existing works would violate the newly proposed "digital replica" right. Such remastering is now excluded from the provision. This change does nothing...
Letters and Statements of Opposition Filed Against Proposed New York Right of Publicity Bills
I sent a letter to members of the New York legislature and their staff today opposing the proposed right of publicity bills that have been introduced in the Senate and Assembly. I focus on four major concerns with the legislation: 1) the proposed redefinitions of the right of privacy and right of publicity, (2) the creation...