Studios Throw Support Behind SAG-AFTRA-Backed, Bipartisan Bill Regulating AI Digital Replicas Upon Senate Introduction

Katie Campione
·4 min read

As SAG-AFTRA been pushing for protections against AI, the studios have been reluctant to support any legislation that might crack down on its uses too broadly. But now, it appears that the parties are on the same page as they’ve both thrown their support behind a newly introduced bipartisan Senate bill.

The NO FAKES Act (read it here) finally received support from the studios via the Motion Picture Association on Wednesday, after the group had warned of potential First Amendment violations earlier this year.

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The bill is sponsored by Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Thom Tillis (R-NC).

“We support protecting performers from generative AI abuse – and this bill thoughtfully establishes federal protections against harmful uses of digital replicas, while respecting First Amendment rights and creative freedoms,” a statement from MPA CEO Charles Rivkin read. “We particularly appreciate the sponsors’ inclusion of safeguards intended to prevent the chilling of constitutionally protected speech such as biopics, docudramas, parody and satire – which will be necessary for any new law to be durable. The MPA looks forward to working closely with the bill’s sponsors as the NO FAKES Act makes its way into law.”

In addition to requiring informed consent for digital replicas, the NO FAKES Act — or the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act — offers historic federal IP protections against the misappropriation of voice and likeness performance in sound recordings and audiovisual works.

The MPA’s support is particularly noteworthy, because just a few months ago the group was warning of potential negative implications of what they considered to be sweeping language in the bill that could violate the First Amendment.

In a Senate hearing in May, senior VP Ben Sheffner illustrated his point by making an example of Forrest Gump, which used that era’s digital technology to feature the lead character interacting with John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.

“To be clear: Those depictions did not require the consent of their heirs,” Sheffner said. “And requiring such consent would effectively grant heirs or their corporate successors the ability to censor portrayals they don’t like, which would violate the First Amendment.”

Updated language in the bill now spells out exclusions for recognized First Amendment protections, such as documentaries and biographical works, or for purposes of comment, criticism, or parody, among others.

SAG-AFTRA and other artist groups have been supporting this bill for months. The actors union’s National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property in April, urging lawmakers to move forward with the legislation.

Artificial intelligence was a cornerstone of SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations with the Hollywood studios last year and one of the sticking points that prompted the actors union to go on strike for 148 days. As a result, SAG-AFTRA (along with the WGA and the DGA) secured provisions to protect their members from the use of AI.

SAG-AFTRA also negotiated AI protections in its contract with the recording industry, and it is seeking similar provisions in its Interactive Media Agreement with the video game companies, though those talks have been stalled after more than 18 months of negotiations. Last week, the union finally called a strike against the 10 major video game companies involved.

“Without a federal property right over our voices and likenesses, we cannot control what others make us do or say by using A.I. generated digital replicas of us without our consent. For an artist, voice and likeness are the foundation of their  performance, brand, and identity,” Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement Wednesday. “Taking that voice and likeness is theft and there must be recourse. Thank you Sen. Blackburn, Coons, Klobuchar and Tillis for spearheading the mission to protect everyone from unauthorized A.I. replicas.”

The introduction of the NO FAKES Act comes as artists and performers are, in some cases, taking matters into their own hands when it comes to protections against artificial intelligence to varying degrees of success.

Also on Wednesday, a federal judge narrowed the scope of a lawsuit from several top authors including Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates against OpenAI over the use of their novels to train chatbots.

While the judge retained their primary claim of copyright infringement, she dismissed a claim of unfair business practices for utilizing the works without consent or compensation. In February, the scope was similarly trimmed, after the authors brought separate class actions against the company that were ultimately grouped together.

Following the bill’s introduction to the Senate, it also received statements of support from the Recording Academy, the Recording Industry Association of America, OpenAI, IBM, the Walt Disney Company, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Independent Film & Television Alliance, WME, CAA, UTA and more.

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