Received from: Equity
Congress notes that:
i. AI tools to create a digital replica of an individual’s likeness are now widely available
ii. many performers, particularly voice artists, have found that after a recording session for a particular purpose, their voice has been cloned and used for other commercial purposes without consent or pay
iii. unauthorised digital replicas undermine performers’ income and personal autonomy and pose a threat to the sustainability of careers in performance
iv. current rights, such as under UK GDPR and intellectual property, are uncertain and patchy on how they apply in this context and do not provide adequate protection
v. more widely, any individual, particularly women, may be subject to a degrading or misleading ‘deepfake’ of their likeness disseminated online.
Therefore, Congress calls on the TUC to:
a. lobby the government to introduce personality rights, to give performers a clear route to control and license digital replicas within agreed limits, and to give all individuals a clear right to object to a harmful digital replica
b. new rights should be enforceable via mechanisms familiar to copyright enforcement, such as notice-and-takedown and compensation for commercial uses
c. support licensing for any new rights via existing collective bargaining mechanisms.
Equity
AMENDMENT
Append new point:
d. ensure that any new rights are legislated to explicitly protect the ability of news gatherers to take photographs and video for the purposes of reporting without fresh hindrance, lest they provide a new way to avoid cases of legitimate public scrutiny, or prevent the ethical documenting of everyday life.
National Union of Journalists