Kendrick Lamar's latest music video for his song "The Heart Part 5" is making waves across all platforms of social media as he used the AI technology called "deepfake" to feature some of the most controversial faces in the industry.
According to Billboard, the rapper's video used the controversial technology for his face to seamlessly transform into O.J. Simpson, Will Smith, Kobe Bryant, and Nipsey Hussle.
The outlet noted that it's unlikely for the musician to ask the celebrities for consent to appear in his music video in the form of deepfake, so it raises the question of whether he could get sued or not.
Deepfake is a form of AI technology that can manipulate faces and voices into an existing clip or footage. It utilizes numerous photos and videos of a person taken at different angles.
This technology has been popularly used in recent years, like Channel 4's "Alternative Christmas Message," which featured Queen Elizabeth II addressing her citizens by dancing.
The show business and the government are still grappling with deepfakes as it isn't fully adopted yet because CGI remains more accurate.
Today, there are no copyright laws issued to combat the use of AI technology, meaning Kendrick Lamar is safe.
The outlet suggested that using deepfakes likely fall under the "fair use" exception to copyright infringement.
"Looking at it from the perspective of how [the deepfake] was used in the creative process, you have to focus on the different meaning and message that the resulting use ends up communicating," copyright attorney Aaron Moss said.
Throughout Lamar's music video, the rapper said his latest track is about perspective. After rapping the opening line, his face morphed into Smith, and he referenced the infamous Oscars 2022 moment where he slapped Chris Rock in front of a live audience.
He later took on the face of Smollett and rapped about the actor's desire to "wanna represent" the Black community. The actor is known for staging a racist hate crime to be more famous.
If Lamar ever had a run-in with the law, "fair use" would be a solid defense to a copyright infringement as his video appears to be "highly transformative."
His video could also be categorized under "parodies" as copyright laws protect malicious content like the category.
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