I was reading this story today on how the actors union SAG-AFTRA in the US has filed a complaint against the company that created the game Fortnite for using an AI generated version of Darth Vader in its game the original actor’s voice, James Earl Jones. Apparently, the owners of the late actor’s estate agreed to it but that didn’t sit well with the union as they are essentially saying the company can’t just make up their own deals like this as it would essentially set a precedence for other companies to do the same. By the looks of it, this will be an interesting legal study of the use of AI work.
But it got me thinking on how the actual say owner’s of the actor’s estate seem like they don’t really have much control overall with what they own per se. Imagine in the future if they say they are willing to license the actor’s likeness to be used in an AI generated version for a movie. But, they wouldn’t be able to just sign any deal as there are union rules. Will you actually own anything in the future as a creative?
I am also surprised it’s not Disney that would open up some kind of legal case in general as technically they should own the rights to the Darth Vader voice. Normally you could simply get other actors to replicate the voice, but that doesn’t mean other companies can just freely use it. Interesting times to live in when it comes to AI copyright law development.