Faces and voices are not just another asset

A business licenses an interview recording and uses an AI tool to make the speaker appear to recommend a product. The business has a receipt for the recording. The speaker has never endorsed the product. The receipt covers the recording. It says nothing about the speaker.

Copyright protects the photograph or recording a replica is built from, not the person in it. Copyright does not protect a person's identity in itself, so a replica of someone's image or voice alone is not copyright infringement. 1 The Copyright Office calls a video, image or audio recording that has been digitally created or manipulated to realistically but falsely depict a person a "digital replica," whether it was made with AI or any other digital tool. 1 The person's protection comes from state law, from contracts and from advertising law. That holds without AI too: a licensed portrait does not let you imply whatever you like about the person in it.

The context of the use matters

Most states give people a right of publicity, by statute, by court decisions or both, but the rules differ considerably from state to state, and a few states have none. 1 These laws typically apply when someone's identity is used in advertising, on merchandise or for other commercial purposes, and not every state protects voice. 1 The same face can be fine in a news report or a parody and unlawful in an ad.

New York shows how the rule works. Using a living person's name, portrait, picture, likeness or voice for advertising or trade without first getting their written consent is a misdemeanor, and for a minor the written consent must come from a parent or guardian. 2 The person can sue in the New York Supreme Court to stop the use and for damages, and a jury may add exemplary damages if the use was knowing. 3 For deceased professional performers, New York separately bars unauthorized digital replicas in a scripted audiovisual work as a fictional character, or in a live performance of a musical work, where the use is likely to deceive the public; parody, satire, commentary, criticism, news, documentaries and biographical works are exempt. 1

Before you publish, test the actual use. Who will see it? What will they believe the person did, said or agreed to? Does it show participation or an endorsement that never happened? If it does, get the person's written consent or change the use.

Synthetic media can separate a performance from its original agreement

A voice performer agrees to record one script. Turning those recordings into a reusable voice model that reads new scripts goes beyond that agreement, and being able to do it technically gives you no permission. Performer agreements can be limited to a time period, a particular performance or a context, or can grant much broader rights. 1 Some agreements now include terms written specifically for digital replicas; the SAG-AFTRA agreement with film and television producers requires digital-replica terms to be clear and conspicuous and agreed in a separate contract or rider. 1

Do the same in your own contracts. Put the replica terms in their own clause or rider and settle in writing:

1. Whether synthesis is allowed at all, and from which recordings.
2. Which subjects, products and contexts the replica may appear in, and which are excluded.
3. Who may access and run the model.
4. How long the permission lasts. The Copyright Office has suggested limiting digital-replica licenses to a relatively short term, such as five or ten years. 1
5. Whether each new performance needs the performer's approval and new payment.
6. For a performer under 18, written consent from a parent or guardian. 2 The Copyright Office also calls safeguards such as court review and licenses that expire at 18 advisable. 1

The same list works for avatars, face replacement and simulated appearances. To put the request to the person in writing, see how to ask for permission.

Advertising adds a truthfulness question

The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, in effect since October 21, 2024, prohibits writing, creating or selling fake or false consumer reviews, consumer testimonials and celebrity testimonials, and courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations. 4 The rule does not ban AI-generated avatars in marketing. But using a celebrity's avatar to praise a product without the celebrity's permission violates it when consumers would reasonably think the celebrity actually gave the testimonial. 4 How famous the person is does not change how the rule applies. 4

Consider a synthetic spokesperson designed to resemble a recognizable person closely enough to borrow their credibility. The question is not only whether a photograph was copied but what the audience is led to believe. Commission an agreed performance from the real person, or design a character that does not trade on anyone's identity.

Consent should follow the person as well as the asset

Keep two records with every photo, recording or model: the copyright license for the asset, and the signed consent of each person whose face or voice is in it, naming the uses. The photographer licenses the copyright. The performer agrees to the uses of their face or voice. The client describes the campaign. Before launch, check the final use against the consent: would the person recognize it as the use they agreed to? For photo and film shoots, see photographs and films can involve more than copyright.

If an unauthorized replica of you is already circulating:

1. Save the file, its location, the date and the claims around it before anything is taken down. See saving evidence while the facts are still available.
2. Report it to the platform. On YouTube, the person depicted or their legal representative can ask for removal of realistic altered or synthetic content that looks or sounds like them through the Privacy Complaint Process. YouTube weighs whether the content is realistic, whether it is disclosed as altered or synthetic, whether it is parody or satire, and whether it shows a well-known person in a sensitive situation such as endorsing a product. 5
3. If the replica is used in an ad and you want to stop it or claim damages, have a lawyer who handles right-of-publicity claims in that state assess the claim before you send a demand.