Will Only The Real Scarlett Johansson Stand Up?
These deepfakes are causing deep legal trouble.
As useful as AI is, there are some things in the legal department it shouldn’t be meddling with. Don’t get me wrong, it has plenty of potential, but it’s also an avenue to get in some serious legal trouble. At this point, we all know it isn’t always the best at citing cases that actually exist. It isn’t winning any points when it comes to commercials, and Scarlett Johansson is prepared to go to court over it. From People:
Scarlett Johansson is fighting back against a company using her image and voice for its AI app.
“We do not take these things lightly,” Yorn told the outlet. “Per our usual course of action in these circumstances, we will deal with it with all legal remedies that we will have.”
The 22-second ad came to their attention on Oct. 28 when it was posted on X/Twitter by the image-generating app Lisa AI: 90s Yearbook & Avatar.
And while the ad has been taken down:
And while it is far from the first time that someone has used AI to recreate Johansson’s likeness:
Using a celebrity’s likeness to peddle goods without paying them for it is an easy way to get AI companies dragged into lawsuits that put pressure on their pockets. Because if Change.org protests won’t stop AI from replacing artists, strategies — rogue or otherwise — that result in lawsuits could be the answer. And I’ll let you in on one company whose lawyers you really don’t want to piss off: it rhymes with Bisney.
Scarlett Johansson Takes Legal Action Against Company Cloning Her Image and Voice for Commercial [People]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
