Hollywood star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador Cate Blanchett launched the Human Consent Registry through her RSL Media nonprofit to let people control how their likeness is used by AI systems.

EU lawmakers, including MEP Eva Maydell, attended the launch and described the registry as turning consent principles into practical rights and trust-building mechanisms.

The registry treats identity as a form of intellectual property and aims to promote transparency, trust, and human-centric AI progress in line with evolving policies like the EU AI Act.

Future registries are anticipated for creative works, fictional characters, and brand marks, with regulators potentially adopting compliance measures as governance of AI training data tightens.

EU discussions include potential licensing for creative works and addressing impersonations or deepfakes, though progress differs across national efforts and proposed EU-wide steps.

Currently there is no enforcement mechanism compelling AI firms to follow signals, and users deposit personal data with a third party.

In a later phase, protections are planned to extend beyond individuals to cover works of art, brands, and other creations.

The effort follows earlier moves by others to police likeness use, such as McConaughey trademarking clips and Swift seeking trademark protection for images and sounds.

Support from filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh, Emma Thompson, and Helen Mirren highlights the registry as simple, independent, and essential for protecting artists’ rights.

Industry backing from figures like Kevin Huvane (CAA) underscores that consent offers meaningful control for artists in the AI era.

The registry targets individuals as well as third parties such as agents and managers and plans to expand protections to works of art, characters, and brands.

RSL Media says the registry will extend protection to works of art, characters, and brands in the future.