Legal

In an interview with Albert Gidari, an expert in Internet law and the director of privacy at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, he stated that the biggest legal deterrent for Deepfakes is copyright infringement. Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright law without permission. Specifically, using images or videos that one doesn’t have permission to use in order to create a Deepfake video is strictly illegal. Mr. Gidari went on to explain that the platforms hosting such videos are not held liable due to the Communications Decency Act, but the platforms are responsible to remove reported videos according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In other words, a platform cannot be punished for allowing a user to post Deepfakes that may infringe copyrights, but, if the copyright infringement is reported and they do not remove the content, they may be punished. The existing legal ramifications for Deepfakes are similar to those that exist for photoshop.

Although there are laws that exist to prevent certain illegal aspects of Deepfakes, it is difficult to enforce them. With copyright infringement, Deepfakes use many images and videos and obfuscates them in order to create a new video. This makes it difficult to identify what has actually been used ‘under the hood’. Moreover, the ability to restrict the use of the specific technology is nearly impossible, according to Mr. Gidari. The ‘Betamax Case’ in 1984 resulted in a precedence that technology with the potential use for copyright infringement cannot be held liable for the actual infringement.

In addition to the criminal legal ramifications covered previously, there is tort law that plays a significant role in the legal realm of Deepfakes. A tort is a civil wrong that results in the loss or suffering of someone else. With regard to Deepfakes, false light is a tort law concerned with depicting someone in a position that is illegitimate resulting in defamation. If a Deepfake video creates the perception that someone has done something that they have not done and this results in a loss or suffering, the injured party can sue the tortfeasor for financial damages.

Issues arise with tort law with respect to fame and economic status. It is difficult to quantify damages for an image or video especially for someone that does not depend on public image. Mr. Gidari stated that it was nearly pointless to sue if you are an average citizen because the cost of lawyers is more than the damages that may be rewarded. Again, we see a significant gap in the laws to protect all citizens.