The film industry finds itself in the midst of a new chapter—one not written by human hands, but by algorithms. The rise of Artificial Intelligence brings unprecedented opportunities, but also sharp dilemmas around ownership, consent, and creativity.

AI and Creative Control

In recent weeks, the debate has flared up again with the appearance of Tilly Norwood, a fully AI-generated character created by a Dutch developer. Tilly is not a flesh-and-blood actor but a digital being trained on the work of countless real performers. The Screen Actors Guild responded sharply:

“Tilly Norwood is not an actor, but a character built on the work of professionals, without their consent or compensation.”

And Tilly is not an isolated case. Film studio Warner Bros recently filed a lawsuit against Midjourney, arguing that the AI company enables users to generate images of well-known characters such as Wonder Woman and Superman without authorization. According to the studio, this constitutes intellectual property theft, with damages of $150,000 claimed per violation.

What’s at stake here is more than just a legal issue. It’s about who retains creative control in an era where AI learns, copies, and creates at unprecedented speed. When a face, voice, or image can be endlessly reproduced, what remains of consent, ownership, or authenticity?

In practice, it sometimes seems as though a vast digital learning factory has emerged—one that uses creative material to train itself without the creators having any say in the matter. The result is an increase in lawsuits, damage claims, and an ongoing debate about how ownership and consent should be managed in the world of AI.

The core problem: how can creators, companies, or platforms know what is happening with their material? And how can they ensure their rights remain protected in an environment where data and content are processed and reused at lightning speed?

Protecting Rights

This challenge extends beyond the creative industries. Across many sectors, there’s a growing need for transparency and control. How can we ensure that consent is always clear, traceable, and revocable? And how can we prevent rights from being violated unintentionally?

At Verify, we work daily on precisely that challenge—how to make consent, rights, and usage transparent and manageable in a digital world. Technology can help maintain control over where content comes from, under what conditions it may be used, and when that use must end.

The film industry is therefore not only a stage for innovation but also for confrontation. It forces us to rethink how we maintain control over what we create—and how technology can strengthen that control without stifling creativity.

It raises a fundamental question: how do we build a digital world in which innovation goes hand in hand with respect for creators, their work and the ability to check whether something is real or not?