In one of the most comprehensive attempts to address the legal issues posed by artificial intelligence ("AI"), California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law several bills aimed at regulating these technologies. These new laws seek to introduce safeguards for content creators and owners of intellectual property, reinforcing California's role as a leader in the development of these technologies.
Among the newly signed measures, the following will have a profound impact on many individuals and businesses, particularly those that create, own, administer, or seek to enforce rights in IP:
AB-2013: Transparency in AI Training Data
AB 20131 requires that, on or before January 1, 2026, AI developers disclose a high-level summary of the dataset(s) used to train their systems or models. The required summary includes: (1) the sources or owners of the datasets, (2) whether the datasets were purchased or licensed by the developer, and (3) whether the datasets include any data protected by copyright, trademark, or patent law, or are otherwise entirely in the public domain. This transparency allows copyright holders to determine whether their works were utilized in training an AI system, creating an additional layer of accountability and potential liability for AI developers.
AB-2602: Protecting Use of Digital Replicas
In the AI era, digital replicas of voices and likeness have become a highly contested issue. For example, in the summer of 2024, video game voice actors and motion capture performers went on strike,2 worried their roles will soon be replaced by AI replicas without compensation or consent. Seeking to protect the rights of performers, AB-26023 deems certain contractual provisions regarding digital replicas unenforceable as contracts against public policy. Specifically, the law requires informed consent from performers in film, music, and other entertainment sectors (including representation by legal counsel or a labor union) if employers wish to obtain the rights to digital replicas of those performers created through AI.
AB-1836: Rights for Deceased Personalities
California's new laws also seek to protect the rights of public figures who are deceased. While the state already prohibits the use of a deceased personality's voice or likeness in advertising,4 AB-18365 expands upon those protections by creating liability for any person who produces, distributes, or makes available a digital replica of the deceased personality's voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording without specified prior consent. Any person who violates the law would be liable to an injured party in an amount equal to the greater of $10,000 or the actual damages suffered by a person controlling the rights of the deceased personality's likeness.
SB-942: California AI Transparency Act
SB-942, coined the "California AI Transparency Act," requires certain AI developers (those with more than a million monthly users, called "Covered Providers") to provide so-called "transparency tools" (at no cost to the user). These tools would allow the ultimate consumer of a work to detect whether content was created or altered with the use of AI. Additionally, a Covered Provider will also be required to offer options for visible and hidden markers within AI-generated content, further ensuring transparency about the work's AI generation. Although a violation of this does not create a private right of action for consumers, a Covered Provider that violates SB-942 would be liable to the California Attorney General for civil penalties in the amount of $5,000 per violation.
Navigating the New Landscape
The legislative measures highlighted above demonstrate a growing recognition by governments of the risks AI poses to intellectual property rights. For IP holders, it remains to be seen whether these new laws will ultimately mitigate some of those risks.
Footnotes
1. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2013.
2. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/video-game-union-performers-call-for-ai-protections-at-disney-picket-1235975944/.
3. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2602.
4. California Civil Code § 3344.1(a)(1)(A) provides that "a person who uses a deceased personality's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness, in any manner, on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods, or services, without prior consent from the person or persons specified in subdivision (c), shall be liable for any damages sustained by the person or persons injured as a result thereof."
5. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1836.
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