The U.S. Copyright Office has released Part 1 of its report on the legal and policy issues related to copyright and artificial intelligence, addressing the topic of digital replicas. This part of the report responds to the proliferation of videos, images or audio recordings that have been digitally created or manipulated to realistically but falsely depict an individual.
In early 2023, the Copyright Office launched an initiative examining copyright law and policy issues raised by artificial intelligence (AI), including the scope of copyright in AI-generated works and the use of copyrighted materials in AI training. After hosting public listening sessions and webinars, the Office published a notice of inquiry in the Federal Register in August 2023, which received over 10,000 comments by December 2023.
The Office is issuing a Report in several Parts analyzing the issues, which will be published as they are completed. On July 31, 2024, the Office published Part 1 of the Report, which addresses the topic of digital replicas.
The Report will be published in several Parts, each one addressing a different topic. The first Part addresses the topic of digital replicas—the use of digital technology to realistically replicate an individual’s voice or appearance. Subsequent Parts will turn to other issues raised in the NOI, including the copyrightability of works created using generative AI, training of AI models on copyrighted works, licensing considerations, and allocation of any potential liability.
Source: U.S. Copyright Office
