this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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Robert Downey Jr. plans to sue any Hollywood executive who signs off on the creation of his digital replica.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

He should do it himself and then it's protected by copyright after he's dead.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 15 hours ago

Oh snap RDJ with the ban hammer! I think Hollywood might be worried now /s

[–] [email protected] 29 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

The whole big tech ethos is to figure out the intersection of against-the-spirit-of-the-law and within-the-letter-of-the-law, and colonize the fuck out of that spot.

So they’ll probably just create a replica through means that allow them to claim they didn’t use his likeness directly, and call it “Rodert Upney Sr.”

[–] [email protected] 11 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

THIS SUMMER, Bobert Sideney III IS...Metal Fella

It's Bruce Lee/Bruce Li/Bruce Le/Bruce Lai/Dragon Lee all over again.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 18 hours ago

He was great in Smooch Smooch Boom Boom.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 20 hours ago

God, this is so painfully true. Microsoft really set the precedent for the industry, often straying over the line into illegality; if Bush hadn't given directions that resulted in the ruling being overturned, they'd be several smaller companies now, and without their near-monopoly.

Fucking Bush.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

So what keeps someone from running a Robert Downey Jr. lookalike contest, then giving the winner a cash prize in exchange for their likeness?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 15 hours ago

That's sorta the definition of a person's likeness to run a lookalike contest

[–] [email protected] 69 points 1 day ago (3 children)

“You’ll be dead,” Swisher noted, to which Downey replied: “But my law firm will still be very active.”

You can have a will and an estate, but if your estate fucks you over is there anything anyone can do about it?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 22 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

what if spouse is also dead

[–] [email protected] 6 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Someone with an interest in a payout will sue.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

what if all those people are dead too

[–] [email protected] 5 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

At that point, the likeness would likely have entered public domain anyway.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

What if the public is dead?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 18 hours ago

Then we will be at piece

[–] [email protected] 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

What if the kids had a Disney+ subscription?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago

Unfortunately, RDJ probably already agreed to an AI likeness in his own Disney+ subscription.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 18 hours ago

Kill the kids.

Wait.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago

Get to haunting some motherfuckers

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I dunno, lets ask Prince ...

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago

Holy shit, that's some really harsh collateral damage

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 day ago (2 children)

People, your likeness can’t be used by others commercially without your consent, and this goes back way before AI or even computers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_rights#United_States

For example:

actor Crispin Glover filed a lawsuit against Universal Studios for both the unauthorized use of his likeness and the use of footage of him from Back to the Future in Back to the Future Part II; his permission had not been sought for the latter and he received no payment. After a motion to dismiss was denied, the case was settled for an undisclosed amount. The Screen Actors Guild changed its rules to prohibit its members from unauthorized mimicking of other SAG members.[51][52]

[–] [email protected] 8 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

How’d that work out for Johansson?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Well we don't know, the case is ongoing. But it'll probably go in her favor. Judges currently tend to dislike AI.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

the AI piece is kind of irrelevant. the only relevant parts as far as I understand are how much the "image" directly resembles her, and the laws in the specific state (I believe her state of residence, but could be wrong).

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Does this mean Elvis impersonators are breaking the law?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Not just Elvis, there are a lot of celebrity impersonators out there. I'm guessing they are legal or traditionally tolerated for some reason. Maybe the fact that it's in-person vs in a film/tv show/ad/print makes it different.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

If they're not in SAG and/or it's not a SAG-covered field, then no.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

It's definitely a SAG-covered field, especially with later-era Elvises.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Impersonators, assuming you're talking about the ones on the street, typically fall under parody and are therefore fair use. Some also do pay licensing fees for their portrayals. Just sort of depends on the situation.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 18 hours ago

I just meant that they're fat.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

And this was the day Robert Downey Jr. discovered just how little power he actually held.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 day ago

how so? suing for unauthorized use of likeness is not unusual.

[–] [email protected] 97 points 1 day ago (1 children)

“I don’t envy anyone who has been over-identified with the advent of this new phase of the information age. The idea that somehow it belongs to them because they have these super huge start-ups is a fallacy,” Downey told Swisher about figures like Altman. “The problem is when these individuals believe that they are the arbiters of managing this but meanwhile are wanting and/or needing to be seen in a favorable light. That is a massive fucking error. It turns me off and makes me not want to engage with them because they are not being truthful.”

👏🏼👏🏼

[–] [email protected] 11 points 22 hours ago

Dude just said what rub me the wrong way these AI mumbo jumbo techbro do, that i myself can't really quite get why.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

lol, like that’s going to stop them.

You signed their contracts and they will find a way to own and replicate your likeness.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

surely the contracts he signed are for a limited number of appearances, not to use his likeness in perpetuity. this is nothing new in hollywood, contracts have been drawn up considering likenesses for a very long time, AI is not really anything new in that regard.