Estates of Jimmy Stewart, Judy Garland, Rosa Parks to be protected against AI manipulation
Published in Entertainment News
The likenesses of Jimmy Stewart, Judy Garland, Rosa Parks, Albert Einstein, and many other late celebrities will be shielded against artificial intelligence recreations thanks to a new deal by their estate handler.
Loti AI, which detects deepfakes using advanced technology, told Variety it will guarantee that the starry estates overseen by IP management firm CMG Worldwide will be “represented with accuracy, consent and respect.”
Under the new deal, CMG said it will gain “continuous monitoring, detection and takedown capabilities to prevent unauthorized reproductions and impersonations of its clients’ images and voices across digital platforms.”
The agreement comes amid AI putting Hollywood on high alert, thanks to platforms like OpenAI’s new Sora 2 enabling what Loti AI CEO Luke Arrigoni described as “near-limitless content manipulation.”
“We’re proud to work with CMG to protect the likeness and legacy of some of the most well-known and culturally important names across time,” Arrigoni said.
Other CMG-handled estates covered under the deal include Neil Armstrong, Harry Belafonte, Andre the Giant, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Gen. George Patton, Burt Reynolds, Christopher Reeve, Sugar Ray Robinson, Ginger Rogers, Mickey Rooney, David Ruffin, Macho Man Randy Savage, Mark Twain, John Wayne and Raquel Welch, according to Variety.
The threat posed by AI reproductions “not only risk [the personalities’] reputations but also distort history itself,” Joey Roesler, an attorney for CMG Worldwide, told the outlet. Working with Loti, he said, will enable CMG “to protect their likenesses and preserve the integrity of the stories and legacies they created.”
AI video generator Sora 2 launched at the end of September, with OpenAI describing it as “more physically accurate, realistic and more controllable” than earlier iterations at “morph[ing] objects and deform[ing] reality to successfully execute upon a text prompt.”
AI concerns were key in spurring the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild strikes of 2023, with related provisions ending up as critical elements in the contracts that ended the months-long work stoppages.
In early 2024, the Center for Democracy and Technology declared that, despite the strikes concluding, “The AI fight in Hollywood is just beginning.”
©2025 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Comments