Senators Propose COPIED Act to Shield Artists and Journalists from Unauthorized AI Content

In a significant bipartisan move, three US Senators have introduced a bill aimed at curbing the misuse of AI-generated content and deepfakes, offering protection to artists, songwriters, and journalists.

COPIED Act Introduced The Content Original Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfaked Media (COPIED) Act was introduced to the Senate on Friday morning by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), according to a press alert from Blackburn’s office.

Bill's Key Provisions The COPIED Act proposes the establishment of transparency standards through the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST). These standards will include guidelines for content provenance information, watermarking, and synthetic content detection. Additionally, the bill aims to prevent the unauthorized use of creative or journalistic works for training AI models or creating AI-generated content.

Enforcement of these guidelines would fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general. The bill also grants individuals the right to take legal action against entities that use their content without consent or proper compensation.

Moreover, the COPIED Act seeks to prohibit internet platforms, search engines, and social media companies from tampering with or removing content provenance information.

Support and Context Several content and journalism advocacy groups have expressed their support for the COPIED Act, including SAG-AFTRA, the Recording Industry Association of America, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Songwriters Guild of America, and the National Newspaper Association.

This bill follows earlier legislative efforts to address the growing concerns surrounding AI content. For instance, in April, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act, which requires AI companies to disclose their copyrighted sources. However, this bill has not yet moved out of the House Committee on the Judiciary.