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Bruce Willis sells deepfake rights to his likeness for commercial use
Bruce Willis has sold the "digital twin" rights to his likeness for commercial video production use, according to a report by The Telegraph. This move allows the Hollywood actor to digitally appear in future commercials and possibly even films, and he has already appeared in a Russian commercial using the technology.
Willis, who has been diagnosed with a language disorder called aphasia, announced that he would be "stepping away" from acting earlier this year. Instead, he will license his digital rights through a company called Deepcake. The company is based in Tbilisi, Georgia, and is doing business in America while being registered as a corporation in Delaware.
Deepcake obtained Willis' likeness by training a deep learning neural network model on his appearances in blockbuster action films from the 1990s. With his facial appearance known, the model can then apply Willis's head to another actor with a similar build in a process commonly called a deepfake. Deepfakes have become popular in recent years on TikTok, with unauthorized deepfakes of Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves gathering large followings.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by looorg on Sunday October 02 2022, @01:12AM (6 children)
Is this the future of entertainment then? Actors being digital immortal and staring forever in the movies even beyond death. After all music and books from dead artists keep raking in the cash since the rights are passed around and sold like tokens. The Mouse must be salivating ...
Is there some clause in the contract that states what Willis digital twin will appear in? Russian commercials? Isn't there an embargo/war going on? Shouldn't he be shunned in America now? Is Willis in camp Putin?
That said some part of me does hope all the deepfakes eventually get together and do some weird ass porn movie together. Willis could become the new goatse-dude. Just to show what a bad idea it is to sell your likeness, digital or not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 02 2022, @01:33AM (1 child)
> Shouldn't he be shunned in America now?
That doesn't bother me, but I'm guessing that going with a Russian based company was not a great move. The Russians historically have been pretty sketchy on copyright* and I suspect that Bruce stands a good chance of getting ripped off.
* The USSR didn't get around to signing international (C) conventions for quite a while--and regularly translated/copied/printed books from other countries (paying no royalty).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_copyright_relations_of_Russia [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by legont on Sunday October 02 2022, @03:38AM
It's not Russian company. It's a Georgian one and Georgia recently fought - and lost - a war with Russia.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 02 2022, @01:55AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 02 2022, @06:52AM
Free Bruce Willis's digital twin!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 02 2022, @03:31AM
Many Russians have fled to Georgia recently and the countries have no diplomatic ties following their war. Despite this, a Georgian company can make a commercial for a Russian company.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 02 2022, @04:03PM
> some part of me does hope all the deepfakes eventually get together and do some weird ass porn movie together.
Unlikely.
More likely we'll get the same pro-corporate, pro-business, pro-institutional messaging without any human ambiguity whatsoever. A perfect citizen working in a perfect system making all things right exemplifying the corporate motto, along with his trusty sidearm, on Christmas day. In fact every day is Christmas day, each one better than the one before. Just don't look at all the failed humans.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 02 2022, @01:20AM
It's important to realize that aphasia is something with an underlying cause. Stroke is one of the most common causes, or it could be a sign of dementia. His condition may or may not be treatable (e.g., blood thinners might prevent further damage if stroke was the underlying cause).
Whatever is going on, best wishes.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Magic Oddball on Sunday October 02 2022, @03:24AM (2 children)
I just ran across this a bit ago:
Bruce Willis denies selling rights to his face - BBC [bbc.com]
Basically, the Daily Fail wrote an article claiming he'd sold his likeness to the company based on the existence of the one commercaisl, and other news outlets reported on it without verifying the information. Bruce Willis' spokesperson and the Deepcake company have both come forward to states that the reports were inaccurate.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by HammeredGlass on Sunday October 02 2022, @03:03PM
"reports were inaccurate"
i.e., y'all found out before we were ready and not in the way that we wanted
(Score: 2) by Username on Monday October 03 2022, @07:53PM
Are they really a news outlet if they just report what others report? They would just be a news aggregator at that point.
arstechnica was always a crappy version of slashdot.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by MIRV888 on Sunday October 02 2022, @06:32AM (2 children)
Deepfakes are just the tip of the iceberg for disinformation and deception.
The lower end of the bell curve eats that stuff hook, line, and sinker too.
Truth has become subjective.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 02 2022, @07:07AM
You can destroy those who speak the truth, but you cannot destroy the truth itself.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 02 2022, @04:11PM
> Truth has become subjective.
Not really. We're just exposed to unfiltered marketing like never before. Prior to that we were exposed to heavily filtered propaganda of the form familiar to North Koreans, Chinese and Russians. We are seeing the spasms of societies being wracked with viruses (of the psyche) they have not become immune to. Wild days.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Sunday October 02 2022, @01:27PM
At last they can make films wherein Bruce Willis manages more than one facial expression. Except, nobody would accept it as real...
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Monday October 03 2022, @05:33AM
"Just go to the coast, sell your digital likeness, have a few laughs..."
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?