The Rise of Deepfake Controversies
Let’s try to understand what is a Deepfake, Deepfake simply means it is a where a person creates a video’s, photos, voices, etc, by using your faces and voices, it might look like real, sounds real but it is completely fake. To create such kinds of Deepfake videos persons might be using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to manipulate images, videos, voices also used in creating a realistic but fake media.
There are some deepfakes might seem harmless and fun but have serious legal and ethical risks, such as :
✅ Cyberbullying, harassment & revenge porn
✅ Identity theft & financial fraud
✅ Political manipulation & election fraud
✅ Spreading fake news & misinformation
Lets try and understand the two important questions which are related to deepfake, that is if someone misuses your face in a deepfake, can you sue ? And if an accused is making a deepfake, can they escape from legal troubles? - Lets also try understanding what are the rights, legal loopholes and possible defenses on deepfake.
Is Deepfake Illegal ? Lets also understand the Legal perpective
There are no federal law or specific law which talks about deepfake and imposition of ban on deepfake, since deepfake is an evolving in many parts of the world, including United states therefore there won’t be any laws which specifically focused on deepfake, but there are some parts of other laws which touches upon similar concept of deepfake technologies, There are several existing laws which might apply depending on how the deepfake is used.
What are the Reasons for which you can file a Suit on Deepfake
1. Defamation of a Person
If deepfake technolgy is used to defame which is harmful for a person also causes damages for the reputation of a person, in such situations you could sue for defamation. Lets take an example, in a deepfake videos if you have been showed as if you are committing a crime, ruining or causing damage for you reputation in such a scenario you can file a suit.
2. Copyright and Intellectual Property Laws
If any a person creates a deepfake videos by using other persons or peoples face in such a situation the affected person can file a suit stating that there identity has been used without there person which causes harm to there mental and physical health
3. State-Specific Anti Deepfake laws
There are many laws which are related to United states of America which is againt Deepfake such as California’s ( AB 602 and AB 730 ) which imposes ban on using deepfake to harm repuations of persons also which misleads voters by providing false informations.
4. Right to Pulblicity Laws
There are few peopels who use deepfake for the sake of publicity where they started to famous peoples name, images or likeness without there permission which causes many problems for the person, this is really stronger in countries such as California, New York and Texas
Do You Think can you sue someone for using your face in a Deepfake Video’s ?
Yes, you have complete rights to file a suit against the person who have used your face in there deepfake videos, come lets explore what are the possible situations where you can sue the person
1. If the deepfake uses your face for Commercial Gain
If any person uses your face for any monetary benefits such as using you face to make money, generate income this specially comes in situations where you face might be used for any advertisements, promotions, etc
2. If the Deepfake is used in Pornographic or Exploitative
In case you face has been used in any porn videos, where the video is not shooted by you or the face is used without you consent in such situations you can file a suit, where through law you can take legal action against the accessed who use your face, this will also cause damage to your reputation
3. Deepfake causes Financial or Emotional Harm
Due to usage of deepfake if at all you encountered any financial losses or emotional harm in such situation you can start taking a legal action against the accessed, There are many possibilities where you might get financially affected due to loss of money etc also you might even get emotionally harmed which might cause disturbance to you mental health
4. If Deepfake Harms Your Reputation
The primary purpose of using deepfake videos is the cause damage to the reputation of a person, most of the peoples make use of deepfake technology just for this purpose. More over if you feel that you reputation has been harmed very badly because of this deepfake you can take legal action against the person who used you face by filing the suit before the court of law.
Do you Think can Accused get escaped from Deepfake Lawsuits ?
Yes, there are many ways in which accused can get escaped from Deepfake Lawsuits, be really cautions, come lets explore what are those ways in which accused can escape you let us know what are the genuine reasons for which accused need not be punished.
1. No Intent to Harm
If the deepfake video has been created but there no intention to harm the person, if the video, image or audio, etc does not contain any defamatory words, unwanted actions where the content is really proper in such situation Accused need not be punished and can get escaped from the law suit
2. No One say it
If deepfakes which was created has not been seen by anyone as it was used privately in such situation no punishment will be imposed, as it is not completely agaist the law where it is used privately, if it used privately no one gets to know ultimately no harm will be caused.
3. Used by taking consent
If the original person gave consent on using there identity in such a situation there won’t be any legal action taken, even if the legal action has been taken there won’t be any punishment or fine imposed as it is used out of consent
4. No Proof of Damage
By using others identity if there is no Damage which has been caused to the original person there won’t be any charges which will be taken against the user, as laws will be providing remedies for any damages or problems, if that itself is not there then no action can be taken against the person
5. No Deepfake Law cover this
This can be a legal loophole, if non of the deepfake laws which covers on usage of certain identity in certain situations in such a case accused have priviledge to defend himself stating the non of the law stated the situations, if a deepfake does not clearly state that it violates the law the accused may avoid punishment, but there are certain situations which is not an exception those are election fraud, revenge porn or defamations.
6. I Din’t Make It
If this is no proper Evidence stating that the deepfake is created where the creator remains anonymous, making it really difficult to trace who made or uploaded the content in this situations accused will not be under any legal actions without direct evidence,legal action becomes harder
7. It’s Just AI, Not My Fault
In case of using AI tools where the AI makes use of the person identity to generate some content which is not done intentionally by human beings, where the content is manually created AI tool automatically generated it this can be defence for the accused, also certain laws does not regulate or give more importance to Automated AI generated content, if can be valid loophole.
Final Thoughts :
When we talk about weather or not Deepfake laws have gaps, yeah there are lot many gaps and loopholes which the accused can take advantage of to escape from lawsuits, But even though there are loopholes New state and federal laws are being introduced to close this loopholes, AI detection tools are also improving which helps in detecting the AI generated content also trace deepfake creators, courts are also continuously updating privacy and defamation laws to include deepfake
Yes, You can sue - but success of winning or losing the case completely depends on the law in you state
If you are an accused, you may get relief for the above situation, where it provides loopholes to escape from certain liabilities
What do you think ? Should the Deepfake laws be much more stricter ? Let us know in the comments!
