How creators can protect their identity in an age of AI clones

An up-and-coming creator gets offered their first brand deal. It’s enough money to pay their rent, but not nearly enough to hire a lawyer to look over the contract, so they sign it. A few months later, they see their face on a billboard or in a commercial without their consent. This isn’t a hypothetical, says lawyer Michelle May O’Neil, whom I met at SXSW in Austin, Texas, after her panel, “Who Owns Me? Legal War Over Identity in the Creator Economy.” O’Neil is a nationally recognized lawyer, litigation strategist, and expert on NIL (name, image, likeness) topics, and she’s warning creators to pay very close attention to contracts with brands. However, it’s not just shady contracts and legalese that can strip creators of their likeness. In the AI era, creators are also facing AI clones and deepfakes that steal their voice and image. During her panel, O’Neil explained how creators can lose control of their online identity, and some of her examples took me by surprise. She highlighted the case of Kat and Mike Stickler, the married TikTok influencers who ended up in a bitter feud over their shared social media accounts during a messy divorce. “As a lawyer, we say fair is a four-letter