header-logo header-logo

09 February 2024
Issue: 8058 / Categories: Legal News , Cyber , Cybercrime , Artificial intelligence , Criminal
printer mail-detail

NLJ this week: False images, real problems in the deceptive world of deepfakes

157364

Deepfakes, whether of Taylor Swift or Donald Trump, have obviously harmful potential consequences for the unwitting subject—but what legal action can be taken against them?

This is the topic addressed by David Locke in this week’s NLJ.

Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, looks at the difficulty of identifying the ‘creator’. In some circumstances, the artificial intelligence (AI) tool itself could be seen ‘as the entity that can most accurately be described as the creator, and to the extent AI “exists”, it does so beyond the reach of criminal sanction’.

There are also difficulties in enforcement, given the deepfake might be reposted hundreds of thousands of times. Locke highlights several issues, covering deepfake pornography, celebrity lookalikes and the degree of realism involved in images. It’s a fascinating subject.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
back-to-top-scroll