Brands and influencers are not including intellectual property clauses addressing AI in their deals

"Despite the AI boom, influencer brand deals are largely being written without clauses related to AI, intellectual property and copyright, which could leave creators and brands exposed, IP lawyers say. At least five creators (ranging in follower size and content type) Digiday spoke with confirmed no such clauses have been added to their brand deals this year. Those clauses could include usage rights limiting a brand's ability to use a creator's synthetic name, image and likeness, or curbing creators' AI tool usage in creative assets without disclosing use."

""It's strange to me how little my clients are talking about it," said Danielle Wiley, CEO of influencer marketing shop Sway Group. "Especially now, all of this content is now being fed into the models, and it's so important for [the] search engine." Creators have largely shrugged off AI's potential impact to the influencer marketing industry and creator economy, banking on AI-generated creators inability to replicate their audience connection. Influencers and creators seem to be largely relying on pre-existing agreements that already include language for usage rights under name, image and likeness, according to Joseph Lawlor, an advertising and IP lawyer with Haynes and Boone corporate law firm."

Many influencer-brand contracts currently omit explicit clauses addressing AI, intellectual property and copyright, creating potential legal exposure for creators and brands. Multiple creators confirmed that no AI-related provisions were added to their deals this year. Relevant clauses could limit brands' use of a creator's synthetic name, image and likeness and restrict creators' use of AI tools in producing branded content without disclosure. Some agencies and lawyers are beginning to add or advise prohibitions on deepfakes and generative AI use, while others still rely on pre-existing usage and likeness language in agreements.

Read at Digiday