In an age dominated by artificial intelligence (AI), the entertainment industry has evolved to reflect the capacity of new technologies to alter, enhance, or replicate human performances. As actors earn Oscars for AI-assisted performances and bands win Grammys for AI-generated music, questions have arisen concerning the future of art as human creation. The past several years have seen several lawsuits filed, contracts revised, and restrictions set in an attempt to regulate AI usage in the industry. One such effort, the 2024 Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act, was recently introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives as an endeavor to protect actors’ and performers’ likenesses from the misuse of deepfake technology. While preemptive state laws and agencies like the U.S. Copyright Office support the creation of a national standard for restrictions on AI, the proposed legislation, as outlined in the current version of the NO FAKES Act, would encroach upon First Amendment rights protecting freedom of speech in digital spaces as interpreted and enforced by the current administration.

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