Law / United States / 
California
Deceased Personality Digital Replica Liability Law (AB 1836)
Cal. Civ. Code Section 3344.1 (AB 1836, Ch. 258, Stats. 2024)
In force since .
An AI prohibited practices rule binding private bodies.
- How the hook was established
- express
- What makes it apply
- Place of effect
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Consent
- Setting the rule reaches
- General
As of .
What it requires
- Do not produce, distribute, or make available the digital replica of a deceased personality's voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording without prior consent from the person or persons who hold the right of consent
- Do not use a deceased personality's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods, or services, without prior consent from the person or persons who hold the right of consent
- A digital replica used in connection with news, public affairs, or sports broadcasts or accounts, for comment, criticism, scholarship, satire, or parody, in a documentary or in a historical or biographical manner (unless the use is intended to create, and does create, the false impression that the work is an authentic recording in which the individual participated), where the use is fleeting or incidental, or in an advertisement or commercial announcement for such a work, needs no consent
- The owners and employees of a medium used for advertising are not liable for an advertisement or solicitation they publish or disseminate in violation of the section unless it is established that they knew of the unauthorized use
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionYes
Statutory damages
Civil Code section 3344.1(a)(2)(A)(i): for a digital replica, the greater of $10,000 or the actual damages suffered by a person controlling the rights to the deceased personality's likeness.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 10,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
No dedicated regulator; enforced by an injured party through a private civil action, including a person controlling the rights to the deceased personality's likeness.
What this law does
AB 1836 was chaptered on as Chapter 258 of the Statutes of 2024. Civil Code Section 3344.1, as amended by AB 1836, is effective per the code's own history note.
A person who produces, distributes, or makes available the digital replica of a deceased personality's voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording without prior consent from a person specified in subdivision (c) is liable to any injured party for the greater of $10,000 or the actual damages suffered by a person controlling the rights to the deceased personality's likeness.
A digital replica is a computer-generated, highly realistic electronic representation that is readily identifiable as the voice or visual likeness of an individual that is embodied in a sound recording, image, audiovisual work, or transmission in which the actual individual either did not actually perform or appear, or did perform or appear but the fundamental character of the performance or appearance has been materially altered.
A digital replica may be used without consent in connection with news, public affairs, or sports broadcasts or accounts, for comment, criticism, scholarship, satire, or parody, as a representation of the individual as the individual's self in a documentary or in a historical or biographical manner, where the use is fleeting or incidental, or in an advertisement or commercial announcement for such a work.
The consent is exercisable by the person or persons to whom the right of consent has been transferred or, if no transfer has occurred, to whom it has passed under the section's succession rules.
The section also makes a person who uses a deceased personality's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for advertising or selling, without prior consent liable for damages, including the greater of $750 or the actual damages and the profits attributable to the use.
The section does not apply to the owners or employees of any medium used for advertising by whom an advertisement or solicitation in violation of the section is published or disseminated, unless it is established that they had knowledge of the unauthorized use. A successor in interest or licensee cannot recover damages for a use that occurs before it registers a claim of the rights with the Secretary of State.
No action may be brought for a use occurring after the expiration of 70 years after the death of the deceased personality.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app generates audio with AI, generates images with AI or generates video with AI.