How is AI Use Being Regulated in the Entertainment Industry?

The advent of common generative artificial intelligence (AI) usage has brought significant changes across most, if not all, industries. In the entertainment space, producing media has become cheaper and easier than ever. Technology such as VideoLANs AI subtitle generation can automatically transcribe and translate audio into more than 100 languages, saving production costs and allowing for the wider global dissemination of media.[i] AI deepfakes can replace an entire cast of background actors or artificially age an existing actor in post-production.[ii] Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can write any manner of scripts and lyrics. Generative AI fills a variety of roles in media production, slashing costs for studios.

Artificial intelligence, however, forces many creators and workers out of their positions. Deepfakes, especially those of celebrities, raise issues of privacy and the right to publicity as their images and identities are used without permission—sometimes exploitatively.[iii] Dozens of complaints have been filed in recent years regarding works produced by LLMs that were trained on existing protected work. Clearly, AI usage needs to be regulated, but how is the federal government addressing this issue?

The short answer, unfortunately, is that it is not.

Despite some attempts to enact regulations, the federal government has yet to create any lasting substantive law controlling the use of artificial intelligence. In 2023, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14110 outlining the Administration’s commitment to protecting privacy and preventing intellectual property theft, among other policy goals.[iv] However, Executive Order 14110 was revoked by President Donald Trump shortly after his 2025 inauguration.[v] In response to issues raised by AI-generated celebrity deepfakes, Senators Chris Coons, Marsha Blackburn, Amy Klobuchar, and Thom Tillis introduced the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act—a bipartisan bill designed to protect individuals’ voices and likenesses from being used non-consensually in AI-generated recreations. It would hold companies and individuals liable for non-consensual digital replicas produced by AI.[vi] The Senate Committee on the Judiciary is currently considering the bill.[vii]

In the future, we may see the federal government enact legislation to regulate the use of artificial intelligence, but for now the bulk of AI regulation in entertainment spaces has been carried out by the states.

Over the past few years, various state governments have enacted legislation to combat problems caused by generative AI. In California, for example, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two new bills that could regulate generative AI use in the entertainment industry. California AB 2602 requires that contracts specify whether a production studio intends to someday use deepfakes of a performer’s voice or likeness. AB 2602 also requires that the performer be represented by legal counsel or a labor union when negotiating the contract and prohibits the use of AI-generated deepfakes in productions without the informed consent of the performer who will be depicted.

California AB 1836 prevents the exploitative use of AI-generated deepfakes of deceased performers. The bill requires a deceased artist’s estate to approve the use of a deepfake before it can be commercially used in films, TV shows, or other such media.[viii] The California state government is also in the process of considering a bill that would establish standards for watermarking AI-generated material, thereby mitigating the risk to intellectual property rights posed by AI.[ix]

Outside of California, various other states have enacted or are in the process of enacting legislation to regulate the use of AI in entertainment. For example, Tennessee HB 2091 expands the concept of property rights to include name, photograph, voice, and likeness in any medium. It also prohibits the infringement of those rights without permission—including through AI-generated content—ensuring that artists can control how their identities are used.[x] Illinois has enacted similar legislation designed to protect artists from unauthorized deepfakes across all mediums.[xi] A new Maryland statute reestablishes the previous Maryland Entertainment Council as the Maryland Entertainment Industry Council, now including an expert in artificial intelligence, to make recommendations regarding the state’s media industry and the development of AI in media.[xii]

Although the states have made steps towards regulating AI usage in the entertainment industry, there is still much work to be done. Existing legislation focuses primarily on deepfakes in the entertainment industry. Although there are many potential conflicts between LLMs and intellectual property, the federal government has not made any substantive changes to copyright law that would address AI use. As artificial intelligence grows more sophisticated, it becomes increasingly important that the government enacts rules that will govern this new frontier and balance creators’ interests with that of innovation and production efficiency.

[i] Eric Hal Schwartz, AI will start subtitling your videos thanks to VLC, Techradar (Jan. 10, 2025), https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/ai-will-start-subtitling-your-videos-thanks-to-vlc.

[ii] Vejay Lalla et al., Artificial Intelligence: deepfakes in the entertainment industry, WIPO Magazine (June 19 2022), https://www.wipo.int/web/wipo-magazine/articles/artificial-intelligence-deepfakes-in-the-entertainment-industry-42620.

[iii] Halle Nelson, Taylor Swift and the Dangers of Deepfake Pornography, NSVRC (Feb. 07, 2024), https://www.nsvrc.org/blogs/feminism/taylor-swift-and-dangers-deepfake-pornography.

[iv] Exec. Order No. 14110, 88 Fed. Reg. 75191 (Oct. 30, 2023), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/01/2023-24283/safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence.

[v] The White House, Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Executive Order, The White House: Presidential Actions (Jan. 23, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/removing-barriers-to-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence/.

[vi] Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act, S. 1304, 118th Cong. (2023).

[vii] Actions - S.4875 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): NO FAKES Act of 2024, S.4875, 118th Cong. (2024), https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4875/all-actions.

[viii] Governor Gavin Newsom, Governor Newsom signs bills to protect digital likeness of performers (Sep. 17, 2024), https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/09/17/governor-newsom-signs-bills-to-protect-digital-likeness-of-performers.

[ix] Nat'l Conf. of State Legislatures, Artificial Intelligence and 2024 Legislation, https://www.ncsl.org/technology-and-communication/artificial-intelligence-2024-legislation (last visited Feb. 3, 2025).

[x] H.B. 2091, Tenn. Gen. Assembly, 113th Sess. (Tenn. 2024).

[xi] Public Act 103-0830, 2023 (Ill. Gen. Assem. 2023), https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=103-0830.

[xii] H.B. 1487, Md. Gen. Assembly, 2025 Leg., 2025 Sess. (Md. 2024).