IBC2024 Accelerator Project: Digital Replicas and Talent ID

The project tackles the evolving disruption within the media and entertainment industry, specifically focusing on the challenges associated with talent authentication in the digital landscape.

“While the threat of fraudulent deepfakes in media and entertainment has the potential to create an erosion of trust, loss of revenue, and automated disinformation, there is another, more positive story about AI talent that deserves elevation and exploration,” says Will Kreth, CEO of HAND ID, the company proposing the challenge.

Referring to some of the outcomes from the recent talent strike in the US, Kreth points to a specific section of the ratified SAG-AFTRA agreement with the AMPTP as significant. “‘Employment-Based Digital Replicas’ of notable acting talent are now codified as part of the media ecosystem,” he says. “Essentially, ‘Legal and Natural Persons’ can negotiate to earn income on their for name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights, when licensed with consent - to create a ‘Digital Replica’ of themselves for performances on their behalf.”

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The challenge

As stated on the project site, this challenge addresses the evolving disruption within the media and entertainment industry in the authentication and management of talent in today’s digital landscape. Specifically, it addresses issues tied to AI-generated content, virtual world representation, and talent provenance. By offering a distinct and standardised identification framework, this project aims to streamline the authentication process, ensuring reliable verification of real individuals, virtual avatars, and fictional entities. This exploration responds to the urgent need from the media and entertainment industry for an agile solution to automate provenance, thus verifying the authenticity of digital personas and protecting against unauthorised virtual representations.

The proof of concept will also aim to showcase how to minimise legal complexities and enhance transparency in talent utilisation through streamlined collaboration and licensing across industry stakeholders, simplifying licensing agreements based on verified identities. In addition, it will aim to show how producers and distributors can easily identify and track the usage of talent across different platforms and formats, such as streaming services, podcasts, and video games, and ensure that the rights and permissions of the talent are respected and enforced, preventing unauthorised or unethical uses of their digital likeness.

The areas explored within the project include:

• Creation of a consent-based digital replica of a notable legal and natural public figure;
• Testing new workflows that include tagging and labelling, with resolvable, unique and interoperable public IDs;
• Exploration of key provenance information about a digital replica’s chain of custody with Champions responsible NIL such as broadcasters and talent agencies;
• Collaboration with the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) to contribute with standards partners in order to embed cryptographic metadata in a watermark/fingerprint as a C2PA content credential for the Digital Replica Identity in a multi-party workflow;
• Documentation and measurement of the security and applicability of the licensed digital Replica Talent ID in a business use case (deal memos, contracts, licensing, verification, tracking of rights, residuals, performance analytics, etc.).

“The IBC community is very familiar with the media supply chain,” says Kreth. “Our Accelerator use case will demonstrate, with our Participant partners and Champions, a viable workflow for a new object in the media supply chain - digital replicas.”

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Unique approach

What sets the Digital Replicas and Talent ID project apart from other solutions in the market is its comprehensive approach to addressing the multifaceted challenges of talent provenance and digital representation. The project proposes a distinct and standardised identification framework that incorporates a consent-based digital replica of notable legal and natural public figures. This approach includes tagging and labelling with a resolvable unique and interoperable public ID.

Kreth further explains: “In 2018, while I was the Executive Director of the Entertainment ID Registry, CAA came to me and said, ’We love what you do with barcodes for the film and TV industry. Could you do the same thing for writers, actors, directors, producers, and above-line credits in Hollywood? We created HAND Human & Digital, a world-class talent database.”

Albert Schilcher, SVP Talent & Music at Paramount, one of the sponsors of the project, emphasises the importance of this work: “We are delighted to be working with IBC on this important Accelerator Media Innovation project,” he says. “It is clear that the whole media and entertainment industry needs to find a safe way of engaging with talent towards safeguarding the production and distribution of their digital replicas and assets. We need to look towards new workflows and define industry standards to ensure everyone is appropriately protected to safely open what promises to be a great opportunity for talent and content producers.”

Specialist technologies, resources, and expertise required

Implementing and solving the challenges posed by this project require a range of specialist technologies, resources, and expertise. Key components include:

1. Digital twin technology: Essential for creating unique, immutable, and resolvable IDs for industry professionals like actors, directors, and producers.
2. Collaboration with talent agencies and player associations: Crucial for ensuring authenticity and traceability of digital replicas. As highlighted in the document, “Collaboration with talent agencies and player associations is crucial to ensure the authenticity and traceability of digital replicas,” says Kreth.
3. Cryptographic metadata: Embedding cryptographic metadata as a C2PA content credential to ensure secure and verifiable provenance.
4. Measurement and analytics tools: Necessary for valuing talent, tracking rights, residuals, royalties, and participations.

Kreth underscores the significance of these technologies and resources, stating: “There’s a precedent here of how to do this right way with provenance verification, version control, and automating that supply chain. But with the notion of the challenges that over the proof of concept (POC) objectives with a bias toward action, we want to demonstrate with participant partners and champions a viable workflow for procedurally designing and streamlining the process of greenlighting.”

IBC Showcase

At IBC in September, the project aims to showcase a POC that demonstrates the viability of these new workflows. The POC will illustrate how the project minimises legal complexities and enhances transparency in talent utilisation through streamlined collaboration and licensing across industry stakeholders. Specifically, it will showcase how producers and distributors can easily identify and track the usage of talent across different platforms and formats, ensuring that rights and permissions are respected and enforced, thereby preventing unauthorised or unethical uses of digital likenesses.

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The team plans to present a summary paper documenting the workflow narrative, a presentation deck diagramming the workflow using unified modelling language (UML), and a short video documenting the following steps:

• The greenlighting and creation of a consent-based digital replica of a notable legal and natural person;
• Collaborating with a talent agency and/or NIL-rights licensing entity on the key provenance information about the digital replica chain-of-custody;
• Tagging/labelling them with a resolvable HAND Talent ID (a unique, interoperable public identifier);
• Collaborating with C2PA.org to embed the HAND Talent ID as cryptographic metadata in a watermark / fingerprint, as a C2PA Content Credential for that digital replica identity in a multi-party workflow;
• Documenting and measuring the security and applicability of the licensed digital replica talent ID in business (e.g. - deal memos, contracts, licensing, verification, tracking of rights, residuals, participations, and performance analytics).

Future implications and broader impact

The implications of the Digital Replicas and Talent ID project extend far beyond the immediate goals of provenance verification and streamlined workflows. By establishing a robust and standardised framework for digital talent authentication, the project has the potential to set new industry standards, fostering greater trust and transparency across the media and entertainment sector.

The project’s emphasis on the four Cs - consent, control, credit, and compensation, ensures that talent rights are respected and protected, paving the way for a more ethical and transparent digital landscape. The integration of advanced technologies such as digital twins and cryptographic metadata further enhances the project’s credibility and effectiveness, positioning it as a pioneering effort in the industry.

The Digital Replicas and Talent ID Accelerator Project represents a significant leap forward in addressing the complex challenges of talent authentication and management in the digital age. By leveraging advanced technologies and fostering industry-wide collaboration, the project aims to create a robust and standardised framework for verifying the authenticity of digital personas.

The upcoming showcase at IBC in September will provide a valuable opportunity to demonstrate the project’s innovative solutions and their potential to reshape the landscape of talent management and digital representation.

As Kreth emphasises: “This project is not just about solving current challenges but also about paving the way for a future where digital talent management is efficient, transparent, and fair, ensuring that the rights and identities of individuals are respected and protected in the ever-evolving digital world.”

Participants:

EIDR

HAND Identity

Champions:

SMPTE

ETC (Entertainment Technology Centre) University of California

Paramount Global

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