Right from the get-go, social networks changed our habits, such as our way of keeping in touch with friends and family and reading the news. Social networks provide limitless amounts of information that can be accessed by a quick glance at our phones.
At the drop of a hat, we can get fresh news and new opinions on every imagineable issue, like an G7 meeting, a football match, or a Royal Wedding.
Social networks have also changed the way they advertise and access the consumer. In their wake, the Influencers have emerged. These collaborate with the brands to give the brand’s products greater visibility.
The Influencers strategies broke the mould but here comes an even bigger kicker: the “Virtual Influencers”.
Lil Miquela (@lilmiquela) and Shudu Gram (@shudu.gram) are two Instagram characters whose popularity has grown exponentially since they opened Instagram accounts in 2016. Between both profiles, they gather more than than 1.2 million followers.
Like other Influencers, they participate in advertising campaigns, publish posts on Instagram wear clothing by major brands and make appearances with other famous people.
But there’s a catch: they do not exist.
Both Lil Miquela and Shudu Gram are hyper realistic ´avatar` 3D characters created by a digital computer programme. They are not humans. A graphic designer is responsible for creating images of these digital characters on a daily basis, posting their selfies with their purported friends and uploading these images to Instagram.
Like their flesh and blood counterparts, a Virtual Influencer (VI) must comply with the law, must sign contracts with the brands and must pay taxes for all the profits on their business.
It is not the VIs obviously, who will be subject to all these obligations, but their creators, who will have to fulfill all these obligations as if the VIs were “real” (i.e. human and not computer created).
As in any business, at some point in the future a legal problem will arise. That is why our recommendation is to take expert advice on VIs and be one step ahead of legal problems that may arise.
In future articles, we will focus on each and every one of the legal aspects that may affect this phenomenon, including the copyright of the creator of the Virtual Influencer and the protection of his or her unique identity in relation to third parties.
