3 Min
Yesterday, the CEO of Metaphysic, Tom Graham, has made history by becoming the first person to register his AI likeness with the U.S. Copyright Office for copyright protection. Metaphysic, a pioneer in generative AI technology, creates hyperreal content and champions individual ownership and control of their AI likenesses and biometric data. Through this submission, Graham showcases the blurring line between real-life and computer-generated media by utilizing legal institutions and current laws and regulations. His aim, along with Metaphysic, is to establish a fresh set of intellectual property rights that will be accessible to everyone in the future.
"Generative AI can create content that looks and feels real, and regular people's avatars can be inserted into content by third parties without their consent. This is not right, and we should never lose control over our identity, privacy or biometric data," so Thomas Graham, CEO of Metaphysic. "I hope that copyright registration of the photo-realistic AI-generated version of myself will increase my ability to take action against unauthorized AI impersonations of myself in the future. Today's law supports that. We all need to work hard to ensure that future laws and regulations strengthen individual's rights and protect vulnerable members of society."
To create his AI likeness, Graham had to make a three-minute video of himself using his mobile phone. The video captured his voice, biometric data, and physical appearance. After receiving the video, Metaphysic utilized tits industry-leading hyperreal AI tools to create a hyperrealistic avatar of Graham as he is today. Graham was extensively involved in the process, collaborating with the Metaphysic team to curate the training dataset and refine the AI's appearance to his liking. In addition to fine-tuning the AI's appearance, Graham and the team also took steps to composite and merge the AI model output into the underlying video to achieve an accurate representation of his hyperrealistic AI self.
Ensuring mass adoption of AI technologies will depend on upholding data ownership and safeguarding individual rights, especially as Metaphysic introduces innovative technologies that alter the landscape of entertainment and the internet. By using Graham's AI likeness as an example, the process of registering copyright can serve as a blueprint for other public figures and individuals to follow in protecting their identities, performances, and brands.
The information presented in this statement, along with any future remarks or observations related to the topic, is not intended to serve as legal advice and should not be construed as such. The content of this statement is solely for general informational purposes. Graham and Metaphysic's understanding is that Graham's AI likeness qualifies as a man-made work eligible for copyright protection under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, as amended, and can be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. However, the future development of laws and regulations related to registering copyright for AI likenesses, as well as the scope of individuals' rights and remedies against third-party copyright infringement, remains uncertain. Graham and Metaphysic aspire for their actions to propel the ongoing discourse on privacy and individual rights in the face of rapidly progressing generative AI technologies that are progressively more realistic and difficult to discern from reality.
