AI is challenging IP ownership

At GPTDreamin, I presented a really clever marketing video by VirginVoyages https://lnkd.in/gCaG3HRP featuring Jennifer Lopez (or an avatar of her) being controlled by the Virgin Voyages marketing team. It’s had over a million streams so it clearly worked. And if the audience didn’t understand what is possible with AI, the whole premise of the video is lost. So clearly the awareness is high, even if most people are not actually using it themselves to create content.

But AI is challenging the industries where the product is Intellectual Property. Primarily the creative industries. And to illustrate this, in just a couple of hours using video download, audio transcription, AI voice synthesis, royalty-free audio and photography services – and my video editing skills from creating JaneBlonde.band videos – I created a spoof of the Virgin Voyages video.

**I must stress this was for fun, to show what is possible, and also to illustrate a point. We would not use this as a marketing video or claim that we commissioned it and paid for it.**

Here are the IP issues that AI is raising:

• These was real actors, but in a couple of years, they may not be needed. The scriptwriters and actors in the USA are on strike. They are fighting for contracts that prevent an AI from replacing them at their jobs, whether it’s writing scripts or appearing as a background actor. They’re also looking for better pay when working on shows for streaming services.
• Jennifer Lopez is able to use her brand power to promote other products, just like Ryan Reynolds does with Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile. Less well-known actors are unable to do this, and if AI is used more and more the up and coming actors will never break through. We are already seeing this is music. Very few (none?) artists who got a hit with TikTok have gone on to have a 2nd hit.
• If Jennifer Lopez’s voice and likeness have been replicated by AI, who does she sue? The AI tool vendor? The creators? The hosting platform? The legal system is scrabbling to understand how to legislate. Grimes took an alternative view. She is happy with her voice being used, but she wants to split any streaming revenue 50/50.

Here is the result. It is pretty impressive. The list of credits are at the end of the video and at the bottom of this blog.

Video credits

VirginVoyages.com. Original video
ElevenLabs.io – Voice synthesizer
Cockatoo.com – Audio transcription
Artlist.io – Royalty free music (artist: Young Rich Pixies)
Unsplash.com – Royalty free photos (photographer: Meiying Ng)
Final Cut Pro – Video editing