A generative AI-centric proposal that was released this week is worthy of attention. According to sponsors Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Thom Tillis (R-NC), the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (“NO FAKES”) Act of 2023 “would protect the voice and visual likeness of all individuals from unauthorized recreations from generative AI.” In a one-pager, the senators state that the NO FAKES Act aims to address “the use of non-consensual digital replications in … audiovisual works or sound recordings,” such as the unauthorized use of Drake and The Weeknd’s voices in the song “Heart on My Sleeve,” and more recently, the use of an AI-generated deepfake of Tom Hanks in ads for a dental plan that he is not affiliated with.
Specifically, the draft legislation would …
(1) Hold individuals or companies liable if they produce an unauthorized digital replica of an individual in a performance;
(2) Hold platforms liable for hosting an unauthorized digital replica if the platform has knowledge of the fact that the replica was not authorized by the individual depicted; and
(3) Exclude certain digital replicas from coverage based on recognized First Amendment protections, namely, news, documentary, parody, etc.
In short: The bill would give rise to a federal right of publicity, a legal right designed to protect individuals’ names and likenesses against unauthorized exploitation for commercial purposes.
>> For a snapshot of The Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2023, you can find that here.
– Alsa Refinish v. Walmart: Walmart is being sued for trademark infringement for advertising using the keywords “easy chrome paint” and “Alsa easy chrome” on Google, prompting Plaintiff Alsa – which uses the “Easy Chrome” and “Alsa” marks in connection with its sale of chrome-colored paints – to experience a notable decline in sales.
– Skechers v. Dockers by Gerli: Skechers announced this week that it has obtained a European Union-wide preliminary injunction against Dockers by Gerli for selling a shoe style that infringes on its proprietary Skechers Hands Free Slip-ins® designs.
– Rolls-Royce v. Hexclad: Rolls-Royce is urging the court to dismiss HexClad’s declaratory judgment counterclaims in a case over “the Rolls-Royce of pans.” (For more on the case, you can find that here.)
– Silverman v. OpenAI: OpenAI is doubling down in its arguments that the author plaintiffs’ vicarious © infringement, DMCA, UCL, negligence & unjust enrichment claims fail in a new reply memo.
Birkenstock listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, nabbing a valuation of $8.3 billion. The German footwear company’s shares opened at $41, down from the $46 figure that it priced the shares at the night before. L Catteron-backed Birkenstock offered up 10.75 million ordinary shares under the ticker “BIRK.” The company’s stock closed at $40.20 per share on Wed., giving it a market value of $7.55B. CNBC reported that Birkenstock’s offering “comes as the IPO market gradually begins to defrost after more than a year of stagnation, but it has remained choppy and uncertain. Multiple recent IPO filers did well in their first couple of days of trading, but those stocks have since fallen.”
*For up-to-date M&A and investment deals across fashion/luxury, retail tech, legal tech, ESG, supply chains, the secondary market, and AI, you can find find those here.