As trusted intellectual property lawyers in Seattle, we understand the numerous challenges facing digital creators. As AI-generated content becomes more commonplace, it’s crucial that creators adopt strong IP protection strategies. Connect with us online to learn more. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing how digital content is created, disseminated, and consumed. It seems like AI-generated content is everywhere, compelling and entertaining users of all ages — whether or not they realize it. 

AI-generated media is increasingly difficult to discern, requiring digital consumers to apply a level of scrutiny that is not generally encouraged by the platforms that propagate it. While high-quality, AI-generated content isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it does raise concerns about the growing threat of deepfakes. 

Expressly aimed at imitation, deepfakes tap into a darker side of AI technology. And while many internet users believe they can tell the difference, new research suggests that humans can’t reliably detect speech deepfakes. Consumers aren’t the only vulnerable party — deepfakes also threaten the creators whose content is distorted and spread across the web, reinforcing the importance of intellectual property (IP) protection. 

AI-generated online content — including deepfakes — will only be more prevalent in the coming years. If you are a digital creator, you need a robust IP protection strategy that can safeguard your ideas in the age of deepfakes. Keep reading to learn about prevalent risks for digital creators, key protection strategies, and how By Design Law can help. 

What Are Deepfakes? 

A ‘deepfake’ refers to a synthetic piece of media created with AI technologies, specifically with the deep learning techniques employed by Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). These tools allow for the creation of highly realistic videos, images, and audio recordings that convincingly replicate real individuals.

Creating a deepfake requires training neural networks—an encoder and decoder—with a dataset of real images and videos. The encoder learns to capture the essential features of a person’s appearance, voice, or mannerisms in a piece of media, while the decoder learns to reconstruct aspects of these likenesses to altered specifications. 

While this process offers beneficial applications, such as dubbing movies in different languages, it is most commonly associated with creating fake celebrity videos, political speeches, and other consequential content. Deepfakes raise numerous ethical, societal, and security-related concerns, but they also pose distinct risks to digital creators. 

Risks to Intellectual Property

In terms of digital content, deepfakes pose significant risks to creators’ ability to protect the integrity of their intellectual property. The ease with which deepfakes’ convincingly forge content can lead to harm in numerous ways: 

• Unauthorized use and misrepresentation. Deepfakes utilize and manipulate a work’s images, videos, and audio elements without the creator’s consent, diluting the original work’s value and potentially misleading consumers about the creator’s message. 

• Brand damage. Deepfakes, especially offensive ones that appear genuine, can be particularly harmful to creators whose work is closely tied to their brand. These deepfakes can quickly and, sometimes, irreversibly damage a creator’s reputation with their audience, collaborators, and investors. 

• Erosion of trust. By eroding societal trust in digital content, deepfakes make it harder for creators to engage with their audience and for genuine creative work to reach and impact consumers. 

• Economic impacts. When deepfakes contain copyrighted material, they can lead to unauthorized sales and distribution. These counterfeit reproductions undermine the original creators’ economic rights, potentially resulting in a loss of revenue. 

• Legal challenges. Navigating the legal consequences of a deepfake can be costly, complex, and time-consuming for creators, especially if they lack adequate IP protections. 

• Increased competition. The proliferation of deepfakes means more competition for digital creators who are already struggling to stand out against a sea of AI-generated works.

This is not an exhaustive list of risks, but just a few of the ways in which deepfakes threaten creators’ IP rights. Although AI-generated counterfeits aren’t going anywhere, there are ways to protect your IP from unauthorized use and manipulation. 

Key Protection Strategies for Digital Creators

Navigating the complexities of IP law in the era of deepfakes requires a robust understanding of rapidly evolving AI technologies and pertinent legal frameworks. As experienced IP attorneys based in Seattle, By Design Law is uniquely positioned to offer top-tier legal advice. Here are a few key protection strategies for today’s digital creators: 

• Strengthen your copyright protections. Ensure all of your original content is registered with the appropriate copyright offices so that you have a strong foundation for legal action. You may also consider embedding digital watermarks in your content to help you track and manage its use online. 

• Leverage AI technologies for detection. You may want to consider investing in AI-based tools designed to detect deepfakes by identifying unauthorized manipulations of your content. Working closely with content hosts and social media platforms can also help mitigate the spread of deepfakes. 

• Understand your rights under existing legal frameworks. Knowing your rights under copyright law, right of publicity, and defamation and privacy laws can be tremendously helpful in your fight against infringement. After gaining a firm grasp of these legal frameworks, you are better equipped to advocate for stranger laws and policies. 

AI-powered deepfake technologies are exceedingly complex, and navigating the threats they pose to your IP rights can be a time-consuming, frustrating endeavor. As a successful digital creator, you may not have time to educate yourself on the best protection strategies — let alone enforce your legal rights. Luckily, you don’t have to do it all alone. 

By Design Law: Trusted Intellectual Property Attorneys in Seattle

Whether you’re struggling to enforce your IP rights or devise the best protection strategies to safeguard your work from deepfakes, you can benefit from partnering with an experienced IP lawyer. As a Seattle-based law firm with extensive experience in intellectual property law — particularly as it pertains to digital threats — By Design Law can create a customized strategy to ensure your legal protection. Schedule a consultation to speak with a dedicated attorney today.