RESEARCH & PERSPECTIVES / AI & BRAND
How should people, voices and visuals be managed in AI promotional videos?
Establish a licensing register and review process for footage, likenesses, voices, generated content and distribution scope.
Start by taking stock of the video's elements
AI promotional videos may combine live-action footage, synthetic characters, voiceovers, music, fonts and generated backgrounds. Each type of asset has different sources and conditions of use. Content generated by a tool should not be assumed to be free of rights or permission requirements.
Verify rights and permissions for each item
Create a shot-level asset list covering people, voices, images, music, logos and generation tools. Record the source, licensing party, permitted media, territories, term and reviewer. Assets with incomplete documentation should not be included in the final version until the documentation is complete.
Distinguish real footage from generated visuals
When using the likenesses or voices of employees, clients or actors, confirm that consent explicitly covers synthesis, editing, distribution channels and commercial use. Specific legal assessments should be made by qualified professionals. Do not imitate someone's voice or likeness to imply their endorsement without appropriate permission.
Review the final edit and its distribution contexts
Check whether generated visuals could lead viewers to mistake them for real customers, actual product performance or on-site results. Label conceptual demonstrations where necessary, and verify trademarks, text, product structures and usage states shown in the visuals. AI-generated content still requires frame-by-frame checks for errors and inappropriate content.
Retain licensing and revision records
Before final release, the brand, business and rights leads should review the video together, checking subtitles, audio, editing and end-credit source acknowledgments. Short social media edits, exhibition versions and advertising versions may have different licensing requirements. A license for the master version should not automatically be assumed to cover all of them.
Create an asset register linked to edit timecodes so reviewers can locate the shots associated with each right. Retain permission documents and the final approved version. When creating a new edit, check again for any added or changed assets.
Platform or generation-tool terms may change. For each project, the company should verify the conditions applicable at the time of production. A tool's ability to generate content cannot be the sole basis for assuming commercial use is permitted.
Qingmei Future can assist with brand video concepts and review processes. The company is responsible for verifying rights, obtaining consent for likenesses and voices, and approving public release.
If the video uses synthetic people or cloned voices, confirm permissions, character identities and potential audience misunderstandings during production planning. An end-credit statement cannot replace verification of rights to likenesses, voices and source assets. Qualified professionals should review the specific scope of permission.
The delivery package should include an asset list, the locations of permission documents, permitted channels and expiration dates. Check the full-length version and edited versions separately. Playback at events, paid advertising and redistribution by third parties may constitute different uses, so their licensing scope should not be assumed to be the same.
During shoot planning, identify the person responsible for permissions for each actor, narrator, generated voice and music asset. If a voice comes from an employee or client, specify whether synthesis, modification and distribution across channels are permitted. Consent to record someone's original voice does not automatically constitute consent to voice cloning.
At project completion, review license terms and identify contacts for handling withdrawals of permission. If a partner's authorization ends, ensure that the edits and platforms using the assets can be located, and handle replacement or removal in accordance with the contract and professional advice.
Before exporting for delivery, check hidden layers, subtitle files, replacement shots and end-credit music against the licensing list. Approval for internal previews does not automatically permit use in public advertising or third-party media.
If asset permission documents cover multiple actors or voices, map them to the relevant segments. If a production contract merely states that 'the assets are licensed' but individual permissions cannot be located, complete the verification before using them.
After re-recording voiceovers, translating subtitles or adjusting visuals, reconfirm permissions and how people are portrayed in the new version.
Permission records must make it possible to identify the people, shots and finished videos they cover, with particular attention to cropped short-video versions.
Retain the review records and permission status for each finished version.
Confirm the permitted scope of asset use separately for each distribution medium.
Discussion Background and Scope
CES · AI or Human? Trust, Transparency, and Co-Creation in the Age of Intelligent Content · 2026-01-07. Official page date: 2026-01-07. The source discusses authenticity, transparency and accountability in intelligent content. It is background reading, not evidence for each practical recommendation in this article. The recommendations are Qingmei Future’s independent analysis.
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