Regular IP commentator Kate Duckworth was recently interviewed on RNZ by Wallace Chapman.

Kate and Wallace discussed the unfortunate case of a Māori woman who had her face plastered on a billboard that was promoting a right-wing cause that she was firmly opposed to but could do little about.

Identity theft, deepfakes, and cultural misappropriation are rife today, and the law is entirely out of date and impotent, and the government has done little to address the problem, unlike in Denmark. For purists, it might seem an unusual approach, because the bill is described as a proposal for amending the Copyright Act by introducing performance protection and protection against digitally generated imitations and the like. Arguably, it is more akin to personality rights. However, it goes further, and interestingly, the Danes are using their Copyright Act as the vehicle to make this change.

It means that individuals will have a copyright-type right over their own face, voice, and physical appearance. The plan is to target AI-generated deepfakes and unauthorised digital impersonation specifically.

Effectively, it means that individuals will have legal ownership over their digital identity, and consent will be required for any close likeness/imitation that is AI-generated to be provided. The proposal is to have a 50-year term of protection that extends beyond death. Fines and takedown notices will apply to those who break the law. In terms of allowing fair use and achieving some balance, there will be exceptions for satire, parody and legitimate criticism. It is expected that the legislation will pass later this year, with support from both the government and the opposition.

This could be a game-changer for protecting individuals from egregious deepfakes, non-consensual AI-generated content, and digital identity theft.

Wallace Chapman, maybe you and RNZ can generate further discussion and debate about this important issue so we can get the government to finally do something about it but also address the broader AI/copyright issue that RNZ has also been addressing recently.

The government announced a review of the Copyright Act in June 2017, stating that “The Copyright Act is an important piece of legislation that governs the way we create, distribute, consume and interact with content”, but good intentions aside, eight years later, we are still waiting!