Misuse of digital replicas should be addressed by federal law, ABA House says
Resolution 501 calls for federal legislation to prevent the unauthorized use of an individual’s voice, visual likeness or image through technological means. It recommends that legislation include safeguards to protect First Amendment rights and address right of publicity and privacy laws and other related issues. (Image from Shutterstock)
The House of Delegates on Monday addressed the increased use of artificial intelligence to replicate people’s voices or appearances without their permission.
The Section of Intellectual Property Law introduced Resolution 501, which calls for federal legislation to prevent the unauthorized use of an individual’s voice, visual likeness or image through technological means. The resolution recommends that legislation include safeguards to protect First Amendment rights and address right of publicity and privacy laws and other related issues.
Adriana Suringa Luedke, a Section of Intellectual Property Law delegate to the House, said federal legislation is needed to fill a gap in current law and provide consistent and equal protection for all individuals, regardless of whether they are famous.
“Such legislation will also foster greater continuity and predictability and certainty given the evolving patchwork of state laws and their differing protections and approaches in this arena,” Luedke said.
Currently, there is no comprehensive national legislation that protects individuals’ rights in their digital replicas, which the report that accompanies Resolution 501 defines as “manipulated media, often video, audio or other likeness of an individual, created using artificial intelligence (AI) to alter or fabricate content in a highly realistic manner.” States’ right of publicity and privacy laws also vary in their protections and remedies.
In July, the U.S. Copyright Office issued the first part of its report on copyright and artificial intelligence, which addresses digital replicas. It notes that existing laws fail to adequately protect an individual’s image, likeness or voice and calls for new federal legislation.
“Generative AI technology enables the production and dissemination of digital replicas at a speed and scale that calls for a national response,” the Copyright Office said in its report. “The impact is not limited to a select group of individuals, a particular industry or a geographic location.”
Follow along with the ABA Journal’s coverage of the 2025 ABA Midyear Meeting here.
The Nurture Originals, Foster Art and Keep Entertainment Safe Act, which was introduced in the Senate in July, is one of the bills that addresses the use of unauthorized digital replicas. A companion bill also is pending in the House of Representatives.
The House, which convened at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Phoenix, overwhelmingly adopted Resolution 501.
“We recognize there is much more to be done in this arena,” Luedke said. “But this is a start.”
Beth Whittenbury, a special advisor to the Commission on Women in the Profession, also spoke in favor of the measure. She noted that the unauthorized use of digital replicas disproportionately harms women.
“With the recent Dobbs decision and the exclusion of the Equal Rights Amendment from the U.S. Constitution, it is clear that women’s rights are under attack, and we need to turn that tide,” Whittenbury said. “Resolution 501 allows us to begin to do that.”
The ABA’s policymaking body has considered other measures relating to artificial intelligence.
Among them is a resolution it passed in 2023 that addresses how attorneys, regulators and other stakeholders should assess issues of accountability, transparency and traceability in artificial intelligence.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
