OpenAI bans celebrity likenesses in AI videos after backlash
OpenAI has restricted the use of celebrity likenesses and copyrighted characters in its Sora 2 video generator after actors and entertainment industry representatives objected to unauthorized use of their images. The artificial intelligence tool creates videos from text prompts and uploaded photographs, but initially allowed users to generate content featuring performers who had not consented.
Actor Bryan Cranston contacted SAG-AFTRA after a video showed him as his Breaking Bad character alongside Michael Jackson. Zelda Williams asked people to stop creating videos of her late father, Robin Williams. Talent agencies and the Motion Picture Association also opposed the practice.
OpenAI announced it would adopt an opt-in system requiring consent before replicating performers. The company paused videos depicting Martin Luther King Jr. after his estate protested. Videos featuring deceased public figures without surviving family or estate representation remain unaddressed.
Cranston issued a statement through SAG-AFTRA thanking OpenAI for strengthening protections. SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin praised the policy change but emphasized the need for lasting safeguards.
