Why Using a Non‑Celebrity’s Likeness Without Permission Still Violates the Law

When people talk about deepfakes, they usually focus on celebrities — actors, musicians, politicians. But the truth is much broader and far more relevant to everyday life: you can violate the law even when you use the face of a completely ordinary person without their permission.

This isn’t just a Hollywood problem. It’s a public safety problem.

Privacy Violations: The First Line of Harm

Private individuals have strong legal rights over their own image. Even if they aren’t famous, they still have the right:

• to control where their face appears
• to avoid being placed in misleading or harmful scenarios
• to protect their dignity and reputation

Deepfakes can easily cross these lines. Examples include:

• placing someone in a violent scene
• inserting them into romantic or sexual content
• making them appear to endorse a product
• depicting them committing crimes
• using their likeness in ads or commercial material

Any of these can trigger serious legal claims, including:

• intrusion upon seclusion
• false light
• appropriation of likeness
• defamation
• emotional distress

For a private person, the damage is often more personal and more immediate than anything a celebrity experiences.

Canada’s “Misappropriation of Personality”

Here in Canada — and especially relevant in Calgary — there’s an additional layer of protection.

Even non‑celebrities can sue if someone uses their:

• face
• voice
• identity
• distinctive appearance

for any public or commercial purpose without consent.

This applies whether the deepfake is used in a video, an ad, a meme, or a social media post. Consent matters.

Harassment and Cyberbullying Laws

If the deepfake humiliates, intimidates, or targets someone, other laws can apply as well. These protections exist because the psychological harm from unauthorized digital manipulation is real and well‑documented.

Would Anyone Complain?

That depends on two things:

• whether they discover the video
• whether the content harms them

But as deepfakes spread faster and detection tools improve, the chances of someone finding out are increasing every day.

The bottom line is simple:
Using a real person’s likeness without permission — celebrity or not — can still violate the law.

And for ordinary people, the consequences can be even more severe.