January 10, 2025

Artificial Intelligence and Your Performer Rights

50 minutes

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes an increasing role in the creative arts industry, we look at what a performers legal rights are and how performers can safeguard their likeness and their work.

In this episode of The Spotlight Podcast we’re joined by Tony Morris, a solicitor who has worked in the entertainment industry for many decades. A partner at entertainment and performing arts law firm Level Law, Tony specialises in contractual, commercial, and intellectual property issues. He also happens to be the author of The Filmmakers’ Legal Guide - a non-legal legal guide on how to navigate the complex legal landscape of the film industry. So we thought, who better to talk to on the subject of AI and a performer’s legal rights?

We tackle a number of topics and in the episode such as:

Understanding copyright for performers

Legal issues arising from AI’s use of performances to generate other work

What you can do if your work or likeness has been used by AI without your consent

Licensing and contract considerations if a performer works on an AI project

How to safeguard your identity and creative work

The ethics of AI

What performers can do to protect themselves in an ever-changing landscape.

Show Notes:

In response to the question: "If a performer's characteristics have been used without consent for performance cloning, what would the legal course of action be for them?" Tony would like to add that "Where an unauthorised performance is used online, the performer may issue a takedown notice to the website or hosting company and that may or may not work."

Link to the interview mentioned with Ben Affleck's comments on AI and the film industry.

See the episode transcript and find out more about AI and performer’s rights on Spotlight.com.

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Rooted in the tradition of serving the performing arts industry, Spotlight has been at the forefront of connecting performers with the world’s most successful casting professionals across film, television, and theatre since 1927. Today, our cutting-edge software service empowers performers to showcase their talents by creating dynamic profiles, making them accessible to a vast network of casting directors and independent project creators. It’s our mission to simplify the discovery of new talent and ensure the continued vibrancy of stages and screens worldwide.

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