The Screen Actors Guild from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced last week it is joining the Writers Guild of America in its strike against Hollywood. While the strike is primarily focused on providing sufficient income and benefits to film employees, actors have also spoken out explicitly against the use of AI to replace or use their appearance in films.
The most complicated aspect of what studios need to consider regarding AI primarily involves the use of a person's image in future projects. The AMPTP disputed Crabtree-Ireland's statement. The scan “only permits a company to use the digital replica of a background actor in the motion picture for which the background actor is employed," a spokesperson claimed. Any future uses of the image would require the actor's consent and minimum payment.
At the core of the legal tension is the actor's"right of publicity," Rod Berman, chairman of Jeffer Mangels Butler and Mitchell's Intellectual Property Law Group, told the Washington Examiner. The right of publicity protects one's appearance in public forums and allows affected parties to sue others for the unauthorized use of one's appearance, including how one's appearance can be used after death.