Free speech concerns may shape Senate Judiciary panel bill for regulating AI replicas

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee was told that free-speech rights could run afoul of a pending legislative proposal for extending copyright restrictions on audio and visual replicas produced by artificial intelligence, as senators eye revisions with the hope of moving the landmark legislation later this year.

“Congress is now considering whether to legislate a new federal right to bar the unauthorized replication of individuals’ (including actors’ and recording artists’) likenesses and voices,” Motion Picture Association general counsel Ben Sheffner noted...