The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has published its latest report, AI in the Audiovisual Sector: Navigating the Current Legal Landscape. This new report offers a comprehensive overview of the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the audiovisual industry and deep dives into its many complex legal implications. Authored by leading experts from across Europe, the report examines the intersection of AI technologies and current regulation within the audiovisual industry. The report addresses both opportunities and challenges that arise as AI transforms audiovisual content creation, distribution, and consumption. It was launched during a presentation at the Lyon Classic Film Market.
Part one sets the scene for current use of AI in the audiovisual industries.
AI is rapidly growing in the AV sector, enhancing creativity, personalizing content, and streamlining production processes. The chapter offers case studies of tools such as Claude, Midjourney and DALLE. However, with its rise come significant challenges, including job displacement and concerns over the regulation of AI-generated content.
Part two focuses on data protection and copyright issues.
Data protection is a major concern as AI often processes vast amounts of personal data. This section delves into how the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the newly enacted AI Act aim to safeguard personal information. It also addresses international data transfers and compares EU and U.S. approaches to data privacy.
Copyright issues will clearly present a major challenge in the context of AI technology. AI systems often rely on copyrighted content for training. We “feed the machine” with such content and this clearly raises complex questions about intellectual property. This section analyzes the legal intricacies of AI’s use of copyrighted works, including the creation by AI models of derivative content.
Part three illustrates five major challenges that AI poses to the audiovisual industry.
As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, questions of authorship and liability, and transparency take center stage. The report discusses whether AI-generated works can be attributed to human creators and whether they potentially infringe on existing works used to train the AI system. It also highlights the need for transparency and questions who should be held responsible for AI-generated content.
AI usage also represents a threat to personality rights and transparency. With AI replicating voices and creating digital doubles, actors face new challenges in protecting their image and voice rights. This chapter explores the legal framework surrounding personality rights, zooming in on the EU’s new European AI act and the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention on AI.
As AI is reshaping the workforce in the AV industries, its impact on the labour market is clearly one of the most major causes for concern. From recent strikes in the U.S. to emerging labour policies across the EU, this chapter investigates how AI is disrupting traditional roles, particularly in creative industries. It also examines the responses from stakeholders such as collective management organisations, trade unions and the various associations and federations involved.
AI’s capacity to create and spread disinformation in the AV sector is another critical issue. This chapter outlines how AI can generate fake content (text and images, deepfakes and audio files) which, in turn, can be weaponized to mislead audiences. It outlines the current rules to combat the proliferation of disinformation and safeguard media integrity. The possibility of fact checking by AI models themselves is also mentioned.
AI has the potential to both enhance and threaten cultural diversity and media pluralism. By personalizing content, AI can inadvertently reinforce biases and limit exposure to diverse perspectives. This chapter discusses how regulatory frameworks can mitigate these effects and promote diverse content consumption.
Part four looks to the horizon and examines the future of regulation in this field and ethical and societal dilemmas which we will face in coming years.
A forward-looking chapter questions whether current AI regulations are future-proof and ready to tackle the challenges posed by AI in the AV sector. Notably, there is an absence of directly binding, sector-specific regulations. The authors discussed this regulatory gap: the extent to which existing legislation indirectly affects AI systems in AV, and whether newly established frameworks adequately address the sector’s specific risks and challenges.
The final chapter of this report addresses the broader ethical implications of AI in the AV industry. Issues such as authenticity, the potential for AI to distort reality, and the societal impacts of AI-generated content are explored in depth. The report highlights the need for ethical guidelines as AI continues to evolve and permeate an increasing number of creative processes, job functions and consumption models.