Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain disclosures of intentionally deceptive audio or visual media.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning disclosures of intentionally deceptive audio or visual media and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
Advanced technological false personation record or record means any deceptive audio or visual media that a reasonable person, having considered the visual or audio qualities of the record and the nature of the distribution channel in which the record appears, would believe accurately exhibits:
any material activity of a living person which the living person did not in fact undertake and was produced without the consent of the living person and the exhibition of which is substantially likely to either further a criminal act or result in improper interference in an official proceeding, public policy debate, or election; or
any material activity of a deceased person that the deceased person did not in fact undertake, that was produced without the consent of the deceased person or the heirs thereof and the exhibition of which is substantially likely to either further a criminal act or result in improper interference in an official proceeding, public policy debate, or election.
Material activity means any falsified speech, conduct, or depiction which causes, or a reasonable person would recognize has a tendency to cause, perceptible individual or societal harm, including misrepresentation, reputational damage, embarrassment, harassment, financial losses, the incitement of violence, the alteration of a public policy debate or election, or the furtherance of any unlawful act.
Deceptive audio or visual media means any video recording, motion picture film, sound recording, electronic image, or photograph, or any technological representation of speech or conduct substantially derivative thereof that appears to authentically depict any speech or conduct of a person who did not in fact engage in the speech or conduct and the production of which was substantially dependent upon technical means, rather than the ability of another person to physically or verbally impersonate the person.
2. a. A person who produces an advanced technological false personation record with the intent to distribute the record over the Internet or with knowledge that the record shall be so distributed, and which a person in this State has the ability to access via the Internet, shall ensure the record complies with:
(1) the watermark requirement pursuant to subsection b. of this section; and
(2) in the case of an audiovisual record, the disclosure requirements under subsection c. of this section;
(3) in the case of a visual record, the disclosure requirements under subsection d. of this section; or
(4) in the case of an audio record, the disclosure requirements under subsection e. of this section.
b. An advanced technological false personation record which contains a moving visual element shall contain an embedded digital watermark clearly identifying the record as containing altered audio or visual elements.
c. An advanced technological false personation record containing both an audio and a visual element shall include:
(1) not less than one clearly articulated verbal statement that identifies the record as containing altered audio and visual elements, and a concise description of the extent of the alteration; and
(2) an unobscured written statement in clearly readable text appearing at the bottom of the image throughout the duration of the visual element that identifies the record as containing altered audio and visual elements, and a concise description of the extent of the alteration.
d. An advanced technological false personation record exclusively containing a visual element shall include an unobscured written statement in clearly readable text appearing at the bottom of the image throughout the duration of the visual element that identifies the record as containing altered visual elements, and a concise description of the extent of the alteration.
e. An advanced technological false personation record exclusively containing an audio element shall include, at the beginning of the record, a clearly articulated verbal statement that identifies the record as containing altered audio elements and a concise description of the extent of the alteration, and in the event the record exceeds two minutes in length, not less than one additional clearly articulated verbal statement and additional concise description at some interval during each two-minute period thereafter.
3. a. The provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not apply with respect to any advanced technological false personation record:
(1) containing alternative disclosures regarding the falsity of the exhibited material activities which a reasonable person would deem to be more prominent than those required pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);
(2) during the process of producing the record, provided the ultimately distributed record is in compliance;
(3) which primarily contains
images or sound recordings of actual persons, such as performing artists, and
have not been
substantially digitally modified;
(4) created in connection with editing a motion picture, television, music, or similar production or creating a derivative production thereof, the original content of which was created prior to the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), in which the person appearing provided consent to their original appearance; or
(5) appearing in a context such that a reasonable person would not mistake the falsified material activity for actual material activity of the exhibited living person, such as parody shows or publications, historical reenactments, or fictionalized radio, television, or motion picture programming.
b. The watermark requirement pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not apply with respect to any class of advanced technological false personation records which the Attorney General determines by regulation should be excluded.
4. The Attorney General, in coordination with any other State agency the Attorney General deems necessary, shall submit a report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Legislature no later than five years after the date of enactment of P.L. , c. (C. &#