Technology hopes to protect creatives from their content being used unlawfully

TrueRights AI

TrueRights has launched a platform to protect content from being used unlawfully by generative AI software.

The TrueRights platform includes consolidation of approved training data - the images of talent or brands for secure AI use - coupled with tools for brands, talent and agencies to have better visibility of where their content is being used, whether it’s being used illegally and ROI analysis. 

Each piece of content licensed through the platform will have a ‘traceable  stamp,’ a digital imprint built into the makeup of the image that cannot be altered with once published, allowing owners to see where their content is being used. This also enables talent and talent managers to properly calculate the cost of asset usage and set rates in line with industry standards. 

As an example, TrueRights estimates that talent with 100,000 followers will earn an additional $3,000 (£2,380) per campaign by using TrueRights to license their IP into AI content. 

The platform has been developed by founder and CEO Benjamin Woollams, former executive commercial director and an early team member at Influencer, and Nick Jenkins, who spent over a decade with Meta in business partnerships. Oscar Hibbert also joins TrueRights as CTO and AI specialist, havin previously developed and sold his own trademarks and implemented an AI-driven legal system for 2.2 million clients. 

The TrueRights board includes Raynold Harris, manager to the world’s biggest TikTok’er Khaby Lame; Nick Ede, branding & culture strategist; Hester Bates, marketing advisor and ex-marketing director at Influencer; Cliff Fluet, joint head of media & entertainment at Lewis Silkin; Philip Hughes, partner at Lewis Silkin; and Hannah Banks, ex-talent manager at YMU.

Woollams said: “For a long time there’s been a growing problem with the lack of transparency around content usage and a growing fear amongst talent, talent managers and brand agencies over unauthorised and misused content usage rights. It’s never been easy or simple to navigate the digital rights landscape leading to many unintentional mistakes in the licensing of IP.

“As we see the use of Generative AI becoming far more prominent in campaigns, the potential for lost earnings and loss of control of assets is only increasing. We could see that a viable solution was greatly needed and so we built TrueRights to develop trust in the industry, by providing a fairer, more transparent market for brand and talent collaborations. The ambition is that if we can build this trust and provide transparency to rights holders, we can support them in safely and ethically working AI tools, to license their IP into AI content.”