BFMA
MODELS
Dear Model
You will be aware of the evolving discussions around Artificial Intelligence. The BFMA has taken legal advice as to which protections may apply to you, our models, in the UK.
Legislation in the UK differs from that in the EU and the USA and is still being debated between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. However, the British Government is proposing that the intellectual property rights of individuals are available to AI platforms by default unless they specifically opt out for each work, meaning that AI systems could freely use your content unless you explicitly object. This applies to the creators of works but models are similarly affected because their special category data (your likeness etc.) could be scraped in the same way and used without your permission.
We strongly oppose this, as do most other creative industry organisations such as musicians, actors and photographers. In order to make sure our concerns are registered, we are looking to get all our models to sign a petition outlining our position.
Whether you are a British Citizen or from overseas, the situation remains the same for any imagery appearing on the web here in the UK.
In the next few days, we will be sending you a petition, which we urge you to sign, and which we will then use to lobby Government and any other stakeholders. Please sign it! We need to get at least 1,000 signatures to get noticed.
Below is the petition.
PLEASE SIGN IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN!
Petition by
To:
MODELS
From:
[Your Name]
To Whom It May Concern
This petition letter was prepared by the British Fashion Model Agents Association, the trade Association of the UK model industry. It was founded in 1974 to protect and manage the careers of models. This continues to be the aim of the Association. The Association has followed closely the Government’s consultation and response on Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and is aware of international developments relating to AI and models.
The Association has discussed this topic with stakeholders, and it writes on behalf of the signatories attached to this petition with respect to the issues set out herein. It is the signatories’ view that, without appropriate safeguards in place, unrestrained use of AI technologies may significantly damage the careers of many in the industry and that swift action must be taken.
First and foremost, this letter confirms unequivocally that the model signatories, do not (and have not) granted any permission for their likeness, image, and/or characteristics, to be used for any artificial intelligence purposes, including without limitation for or in connection with the training; development; or operation of large language models or generative AI models, tools or systems or for machine learning or deepfake purposes.
Express written consent should be obtained from applicable individuals for any such use on specifically agreed licensing terms. Such consent must be given on a voluntary basis and must be uncoerced; furthermore, it should not be conditioned on agreement to other terms. Consent should come direct from models and should be provided prior to any AI use that takes place.
Furthermore, the Association and signatories, feel that it is important to highlight the existing gap in legislative protection in the UK for the exploitation and protection of image rights. The current legal framework is a variety of different areas of law including data protection, the tort of passing off, performer’s rights, advertising codes and criminal legislation. However, there is currently no single clear legal protection for misuse of an individual’s image (including for AI purposes). This current position, where the protection is so piecemeal, results in unequal bargaining power between commercial stakeholders and leaves individuals exposed to unauthorised use of their image.
There are several international laws/legislative plans to tackle the use of non-consensual digital replicas and misuse of an individual’s likeness, including in the EU and the USA. We encourage the UK Government to also address this issue clearly and effectively in its coming AI legislation.
Without clear protections, models face their images being used without consent or compensation, and there could be a dramatic loss of jobs within the industry.