Your Face Is Selling Crypto and You Don’t Even Know It
The deepfake economy is real, and the law is absolutely not ready.
Picture This:
You’re running your e-commerce brand.
You’ve left the influencer world behind.
You’ve got warehouses, supply chains, email flows that convert.
You’ve built something real.
And then you get a text:
“Wait, weren’t you in that crypto ad?”
You hit the link.
There you are—your face, your voice, your cadence.
Except… you never filmed it. You never said that. You’ve never even heard of this coin.
Congratulations:
You’ve just been deepfaked for profit.
And no—there’s no button to press.
There’s no “report this” that actually works.
And the law?
The law is standing in the corner, holding a flip phone, wondering what a GPU is.
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This Actually Happened to My Client
She was an OG fitness influencer back when YouTube still felt like the Wild West.
She made the smart move: pivoted from content to company.
Built a supplement brand. Built a fitness apparel line. Hired influencers instead of being one. Did it right.
Until one day, some anonymous scammer used an AI-generated version of her face and voice to push a sketchy crypto project.
They stitched her into a video she never recorded.
She was “personally endorsing” a project she’d never heard of.
It was running on TikTok. It was running on Instagram.
And the worst part? It looked real.
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So What Did We Do?
She lawyered up. Obviously. Smart.
We filed “takedowns” on every platform under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA).
They worked—sort of. The videos came down.
But here’s the truth no one wants to say:
DMCA isn’t designed for deepfakes.
Deepfakes don’t infringe copyrights. They’re textbook “transformative use.” Like a modern version of Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe.
And there is no other federal law that protects you when someone puppets your face and voice using AI.
So yes, we got them taken down.
But we weren’t using the right legal tool.
Because the right tool doesn’t exist yet.
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Here’s What the Law Offers You Right Now (Spoiler: Not Much)
Let’s break this down in plain English:
🧨 Copyright (DMCA)
Doesn’t apply. Why? Because you didn’t make the deepfake—they did. It’s technically a “new” creation. No copyright, no takedown rights. We just file these to scare platforms. It’s vibes-based legal work.
🧨 Right of Publicity
Some states protect your face/voice/name as a commercial asset. Some don’t. It’s a legal mess. No federal protection. And you can’t sue internationally without spending Tesla money.
🧨 Defamation
Only works if the deepfake says something provably false that hurts your reputation. Doesn’t apply to “crypto enthusiasm” or vague scammy vibes.
🧨 Lanham Act (False Endorsement)
This is your best bet if someone uses your face to sell without consent. But you have to prove commercial impact, and it only works if you have strong brand equity.
🧨 Platform Policies
TikTok, Meta, YouTube all say they care. Until you file 18 forms, beg an algorithm to notice, and maybe—maybe—they do something.
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Real Talk: The Law Is Failing Creators and Founders
The system is a joke.
If someone jacked your email list or your logo, we’d sue under IP law.
But if someone jacks your face, your voice, your literal digital identity?
The law shrugs.
The government is still holding hearings on “What is AI?” while your clone is out here endorsing altcoins and getting more views than you ever did.
Deepfakes are already a tool for scam artists.
They’re coming for:
Founders
Influencers
Creators
Coaches
Executives
Anyone who’s ever been on camera and built something of value.
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So What Can You Actually Do?
Here’s what I tell clients:
✅ Trademark your name and likeness — especially if your face is your brand. This gives you legal teeth outside of copyright.
✅ Copyright your profile photo — and update as necessary.
✅ Update your contracts — your face/voice/identity need to be off-limits for AI cloning unless you license it on your terms.
✅ Monitor for misuse — tools like Hive, Sensity, even basic scraping and alerts. This will happen to people who’ve been public.
✅ Stop waiting for platforms — file takedowns, send lawyer letters, make noise. Don’t assume Meta or ByteDance will protect you.
✅ Build a legal strategy before it happens — not after your clone drops a “Get Rich Quick With Web3 Fitness!” course in your name.
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Final Thought: Your Face Is IP Now
We spent decades telling people “your content is your brand.”
Now your existence is your brand.
And if you don’t control it, someone else will.
You don’t need to be super famous anymore to get cloned.
You just need to be visible.
And valuable.
I’m an IP attorney who deals with this every day.
If you’re serious about protecting your brand — your business, your likeness, your reputation — book a consult. Or keep hoping your clone doesn’t start pitching diet pills next week.
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