Deepfakes, Brain Emulation, and Things We Are: Asserting Rights of Origination (Extended Abstract)

This work introduces a theory of a category of inalienable legal rights of origination which encompasses many currently unconnected rights like privacy, bodily integrity, and publicity. Rights of origination are based on the premise that a natural person has a unique identity that originates in and is inherently tied to their physical body or actions, and unconnected to tangible property or intangible but otherwise separable things like intellectual property. The legal term used to describe the various intangible parts that make up a person’s identity is indicia of identity which under US law include attributes like name, nickname, likeness, voice, signature, photographs, performing style, and distinguishing actions. While rights of origination cover these indicia of identity, the broader indicia of origination also include (for example) biometric attributes like fingerprints, DNA, or tissue samples. Our purpose here is to sketch a general outline of this category to better connect and protect these personality- and identity-based rights in light of current (deepfakes) and future (brain emulation) technological changes where current law may not adequately or consistently address threats to human rights.