It is now law in California to obtain informed consent before using an AI-generated digital replica of a person's likeness or voice.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills into law at SAG-AFTRA headquarters in L.A. that will give people more power, especially actors and performers, who have long been fighting for more AI regulations.
The union's Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, applauded the new protections, saying, "What I think is so important about it is for a long time outside of the collective bargaining world, people have been asked to sign consent forms and other kinds of releases that just hand over control of their image and likeness and voice to companies, and that's no longer going to be possible."
He said going forward, "Anybody who wants to use AI to digitally replicate someone... in any form, is really going to have to make sure that the individual in question knows exactly what they are going to do with it...and that they're represented either by a union or a lawyer in that negotiation to level the playing field."
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Crabtree-Ireland calls the bills 'groundbreaking' because while the union won these protections for its members during negotiations with the studios and streamers, these first-in-the-country laws give control back not only to performers but to everyone.
California law now also prohibits the use of a dead person's voice or likeness in digital replicas without the prior consent of their estate.
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