Professor Victoria Schwartz Quoted in "The State of Generative AI in the Creator Economy" -- Digiday

Professor Victoria L. Schwartz is quoted in the Digiday article, "The State of Generative AI in the Creator Economy."  The article examines AI-generated content, the protection of creators, and AI influencers.

Excerpt from "The State of Generative AI in the Creator Economy"

AI-generated influencers may avoid messy scandals and slip-ups, but it’s still unclear who owns the rights to them. Victoria Schwartz, professor at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and expert in intellectual property rights, told Digiday that it’s a legally murky area. 

“Normally, if we were to take the image of an actual influencer and reproduce it, they might have a right of publicity,” Schwartz said. “They could say ‘stop using my stuff.’ […] But what if the image you’re seeing isn’t a real person’s face?”

Schwartz wrote a paper that breaks down publicity rights state-by-state, highlighting which states might have a right of publicity claim even for AI-generated influencers. Ultimately, however, the situation is far too uncertain. 

“They haven’t really thought about this,” Schwartz said of those creating AI influencers. “None of this has been litigated…there’s a lot of thorny questions.”

This could pose potential problems in the future, especially if more brands turn to AI influencers to promote their products. 

The complete article may be found at Digiday