Legal issues of deepfake technology – analysis of the legality of creating and disseminating deepfakes after the adoption of the AI Act

Abstract

Deepfake technology is almost a permanent fixture in the online world today, increasing in popularity and quality year after year. Most often expressed in the form of an image, video or sound, they present content that is not true, but looks deceptively authentic, resembling existing people, objects or places. For this reason, they can contribute to many negative consequences for people. The creation and dissemination of deepfakes can harm legally protected goods, exploiting a person's image, good name, personal information, as well as a lot of other information about the person. This is why deepfake technology can stir up a lot of controversy, contributing to questions about the legality of creating and distributing such content. Thus, in the article, the author seeks to answer the problem outlined above, namely whether or not the creation and/or dissemination of deepfake is legal in our legal system. This study was examined primarily from the perspective of the latest EU regulation on AI – the Artificial Intelligence Act (and fragments of other relevant European acts), examining whether it introduces specific regulations for the subject matter, ultimately aiming to determine the current legal situation of deepfakes in the context of the legality of their creation and/or dissemination. In order to verify possible illegality, selected potential legal violations that may occur as a result of the creation and/or dissemination of deepfake are analyzed in turn. The above is based in particular on the canvass of Polish law and, to the necessary extent, EU law. This is to enable conclusions to be drawn as to whether there are currently regulations in our legal system that may affect the illegality of the creation and/or dissemination of deepfakes. The legal analysis has been narrowed only to the regulations pertaining to the issue under study, in the context of the distinguished legality.