OpenAI’s Likeness Protections Don’t Apply to Dead Celebrities

Photo Credit: Michael Jackson in a Sora 2-generated video / fAIkout

OpenAI’s Sora 2 includes likeness protections for celebrities who don’t opt in, but that doesn’t apply to “historical figures” and dead celebrities.

OpenAI’s Sora 2 has launched the company back into the headlines since it backpedaled on its earlier announcement that rights holders would have to opt out rather than opt in. Now, it turns out that OpenAI’s measures to “block depictions of public figures” by default do not pertain to public figures who have died.

Thus far, celebrities being posthumously inserted into video creations generated by Sora 2 include Tupac Shakur, Malcolm X, Bruce Lee, Michael Jackson, Stephen Hawking, Fred Rogers, Kurt Cobain, Martin Luther King Jr., and many more.

“Please stop sending me AI videos of dad,” wrote Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda in a now-deleted Instagram Story posted Monday. “Stop believing I’ll wanna see it or that I’ll understand; I don’t and I won’t… It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s NOT what he’d want.”

The loophole at play here stems from Sora 2’s “cameos” feature, which OpenAI notes that living users can opt in to by scanning their own face with a smartphone to “drop yourself straight into any Sora scene with remarkable fidelity.”

OpenAI says cameo users are “in control of your likeness end-to-end,” and the feature is designed to “ensure that your audio and image likeness are used with your consent.” Cameo users can also revoke access at any time, and have moderation control over other users’ videos created with their own scan.

However, deceased public figures aren’t able to consent to Sora 2’s cameo feature, and OpenAI seems to be just fine with that. “We do allow the generation of historical figures,” an OpenAI spokesperson told PCMag.

OpenAI has already been forced to modify the way Sora handles fictional copyrighted works. So why are there no protections for the likenesses of deceased celebrities? Should the estates of these figures be required to contact OpenAI to opt out, when they never consented to these figures being “opted in” in the first place?

CEO Sam Altman wrote over the weekend that copyright holders have to opt in to allow their IP to be used in Sora 2’s content, rather than having to opt out. He also promised that “many more” changes would be forthcoming, and to “expect a very high rate of change from us.” So, perhaps more obvious protections for the likenesses of the deceased will roll out.

Control over the AI-generation of a performer’s likeness was a major part of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which resulted in a contract that gave members full control over the use of digital replicas in future union projects. It remains to be seen how OpenAI will adapt to widespread criticism as Sora 2 usage ramps up.

Link to the source article – https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2025/10/08/openais-likeness-protections-dont-apply-to-dead-celebrities/