Post by sujanakhatun on Oct 26, 2024 10:30:52 GMT
James Dean may have died tragically in 1955, but his heirs are still profiting off the legendary American actor nearly 70 years after his death. And AI is largely responsible for such a miracle. Last July, the heirs of the Rebel Without a Cause star and other illustrious celebrities such as Judy Garland, Laurence Olivier and Burt Reynolds signed a deal with AI startup ElevenLabs to clone their voices.
Under this agreement, the voices of such iconic actors can be used to narrate books, articles and other text-based materials stored in the Reader by ElevenLabs app. With the invaluable help of AI, good old Judy Garland can read, for example, L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and also, if the user so desires, her own tax return.
The business of profiting from departed celebrities is by no means new, and has always proven to be extraordinarily lucrative. Although Michael Jackson died in 2009 leaving wordpress web design agency a debt of around $500 million, his heirs have since amassed a fortune of over $2 billion through new-fangled musical projects inspired by the iconic American singer’s work. However, with the advent of generative AI, posthumous income generated by Michael Jackson and other deceased celebrities does not necessarily have to be anchored in their old work, but often emanates from entirely new works.
Mark Roesler, an intellectual property attorney, has represented more than 3,000 celebrities, many of whom are now deceased, and signed 30,000 contracts on their behalf since founding CMG Worldwide Inc. four decades ago. Roesler's portfolio includes celebrities such as Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Jerry Garcia.
Income from royalties of deceased celebrities potentially takes a boost with the arrival of AI
Celebrities make money while alive from services they provide on a personal level (songs and movies, for example) and from intellectual property rights. When a celebrity dies, they are deprived of their primary source of income, but not their primary source, which goes to fill the coffers of their heirs. Before the emergence of generative AI, income from intellectual property rights of deceased celebrities tended to shrink by about 10% each year, but now they can potentially take off , Roesler told Bloomberg .
Travis Cloyd, founder and CEO of Worldwide XR, has, for example, managed to get James Dean into the casting of a remake of the film East of Eden , which is currently in production, thanks to the wonders of AI.
To create a digital replica of a deceased celebrity with the help of AI, video and audio files recorded not only in professional contexts but also in much more personal contexts are used . Such data is then processed by machine learning technology to create a digital clone of the deceased celebrity, which is then further refined with the help of body doubles.
Almost a decade ago, a similar technique was used to allow Paul Walker to make his way into Fast & Furious 7 and Peter Cushing to do the same in Rogue One . Much more recent, on the other hand, is the use of this technology to "resurrect" actor Ian Holm, who died in 2020, in the film Alien: Romulus , which was released this summer. The much-vaunted "resurrection" of Ian Holm in this film prompted fierce criticism, even though the actor's widow and children had given their approval to his digital cloning with the help of AI.
According to Cloyd, there is a good chance that AI projects will become the main source of income for the estates of deceased celebrities within the next five years . “With the rise of digital platforms, streaming video services and virtual experiences, there is a good opportunity for celebrities to continue to monetize their legacy from the afterlife,” he says.
That AI can potentially be very lucrative for celebrities (both living and dead) is demonstrated, for example, by the show "ABBA Voyage" , which opened in May 2022 in London and which generates more than 2 million dollars a week from the sale of tickets for concerts starring virtual avatars of the members of the legendary Swedish band.
The digital "resurrection" of celebrities with the help of AI also has its detractors
The use of AI to “revive” deceased artists is not, however, convincing to everyone. This is the case of Jeff Jampol, who manages the rights of singers such as Janis Joplin and The Doors and who has already rejected outright offers to replicate Jim Morrison’s voice. “I really can’t allow something to come out of Jim Morrison’s mouth that he never actually said. It would be like a parody,” he stresses. “The way he lived, what he said and what he created is what builds an artist’s legacy. And I can’t change that,” Jampol emphasises.
Under this agreement, the voices of such iconic actors can be used to narrate books, articles and other text-based materials stored in the Reader by ElevenLabs app. With the invaluable help of AI, good old Judy Garland can read, for example, L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and also, if the user so desires, her own tax return.
The business of profiting from departed celebrities is by no means new, and has always proven to be extraordinarily lucrative. Although Michael Jackson died in 2009 leaving wordpress web design agency a debt of around $500 million, his heirs have since amassed a fortune of over $2 billion through new-fangled musical projects inspired by the iconic American singer’s work. However, with the advent of generative AI, posthumous income generated by Michael Jackson and other deceased celebrities does not necessarily have to be anchored in their old work, but often emanates from entirely new works.
Mark Roesler, an intellectual property attorney, has represented more than 3,000 celebrities, many of whom are now deceased, and signed 30,000 contracts on their behalf since founding CMG Worldwide Inc. four decades ago. Roesler's portfolio includes celebrities such as Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Jerry Garcia.
Income from royalties of deceased celebrities potentially takes a boost with the arrival of AI
Celebrities make money while alive from services they provide on a personal level (songs and movies, for example) and from intellectual property rights. When a celebrity dies, they are deprived of their primary source of income, but not their primary source, which goes to fill the coffers of their heirs. Before the emergence of generative AI, income from intellectual property rights of deceased celebrities tended to shrink by about 10% each year, but now they can potentially take off , Roesler told Bloomberg .
Travis Cloyd, founder and CEO of Worldwide XR, has, for example, managed to get James Dean into the casting of a remake of the film East of Eden , which is currently in production, thanks to the wonders of AI.
To create a digital replica of a deceased celebrity with the help of AI, video and audio files recorded not only in professional contexts but also in much more personal contexts are used . Such data is then processed by machine learning technology to create a digital clone of the deceased celebrity, which is then further refined with the help of body doubles.
Almost a decade ago, a similar technique was used to allow Paul Walker to make his way into Fast & Furious 7 and Peter Cushing to do the same in Rogue One . Much more recent, on the other hand, is the use of this technology to "resurrect" actor Ian Holm, who died in 2020, in the film Alien: Romulus , which was released this summer. The much-vaunted "resurrection" of Ian Holm in this film prompted fierce criticism, even though the actor's widow and children had given their approval to his digital cloning with the help of AI.
According to Cloyd, there is a good chance that AI projects will become the main source of income for the estates of deceased celebrities within the next five years . “With the rise of digital platforms, streaming video services and virtual experiences, there is a good opportunity for celebrities to continue to monetize their legacy from the afterlife,” he says.
That AI can potentially be very lucrative for celebrities (both living and dead) is demonstrated, for example, by the show "ABBA Voyage" , which opened in May 2022 in London and which generates more than 2 million dollars a week from the sale of tickets for concerts starring virtual avatars of the members of the legendary Swedish band.
The digital "resurrection" of celebrities with the help of AI also has its detractors
The use of AI to “revive” deceased artists is not, however, convincing to everyone. This is the case of Jeff Jampol, who manages the rights of singers such as Janis Joplin and The Doors and who has already rejected outright offers to replicate Jim Morrison’s voice. “I really can’t allow something to come out of Jim Morrison’s mouth that he never actually said. It would be like a parody,” he stresses. “The way he lived, what he said and what he created is what builds an artist’s legacy. And I can’t change that,” Jampol emphasises.