Professors Chander and Larson Quoted in KXTV Report on Legal Recourse for ‘Deepfake’ Videos

Professors Anupam Chander and Carlton Larson commented for a report on Sacramento television station KXTV regarding “deepfake” videos that use new computer software and easily available online materials to create pornography videos with celebrity faces melded with the bodies of performers. The technology is so new that there may be little legal recourse for those whose faces are used in the videos, the King Hall faculty members said. Even laws against “revenge porn” are probably not applicable, said Chander.

"Having your face used for pornography without your consent is invasive and outrageous," said Chander. "While it has not been tested, the revenge porn laws don't seem to be written for this scenario because they are about real, not faked, intimate images of you. It is not clear whether existing identity theft, fraud, or privacy laws would cover this scenario either."

"The best you can hope for is to prevail on a libel claim," Larson said.