Question raising

Jia is engaged in the AI industry and recently discovered a way to make money. He discovered that there is a trend of AI "resurrecting" the deceased on the internet. So Jia began to advertise on a certain online trading platform, accepting commissions to use AI technology to create video images of deceased people. Sure enough, we have received orders one after another, some fans hope to "resurrect" their idols, some relatives hope to "resurrect" their deceased family members, and so on. Business is very busy. However, soon after, Jia received a complaint stating that his actions violated the deceased's right to portrait. But at the same time, Jia received many positive reviews from customers, saying that they were grateful for Jia's image materials, which allowed them to see the appearance of their loved ones again. Jia doesn't know what to do.

Lawyer Interpretation

With the rapid development of technology, AI technology has penetrated into our lives, providing great convenience for our lives. At the same time, legal issues arising from this have also emerged one after another. At present, the relevant legal provisions in China are also gradually being improved.

The Civil Code stipulates that natural persons have the capacity for civil rights from birth to death, enjoy civil rights in accordance with the law, and assume civil obligations. Therefore, from the perspective of the deceased themselves, as their civil capacity terminates at the time of death, they do not enjoy the right to portrait. But this does not mean that actions that infringe on the portrait of the deceased are not legally binding.

According to China's Administrative Provisions on Deep Synthesis of Internet Information Services, if deep synthesis service providers and technical supporters provide face, voice and other biometric information editing functions, they should prompt users of deep synthesis services to inform the edited individuals according to law and obtain their separate consent. Therefore, without the consent of the edited individual, it is not allowed to use AI synthesis technology to synthesize faces, vocals, etc. without authorization.

According to the Civil Code of China, if the name, portrait, reputation, honor, privacy, and body of the deceased are infringed upon, their spouse, children, and parents have the right to request the perpetrator to bear civil liability in accordance with the law; If the deceased has no spouse or children and their parents have already passed away, other close relatives have the right to request the perpetrator to bear civil liability in accordance with the law. This regulation prohibits acts of infringement on the portraits of the deceased, and is aimed at protecting the spiritual rights and interests of the deceased's relatives in remembrance and remembrance. Therefore, if the deceased's portrait is infringed upon without permission, they shall bear the liability for infringement to the deceased's relatives.

It should be noted that the deceased has passed away and it is impossible for them to make a statement of consent to be edited and synthesized by AI. Therefore, even close relatives of the deceased have no authority to authorize other organizations or individuals to carry out AI "resurrection" of the deceased.