United StatesNO FAKES Act of 2026 (S. 4591, with House companion H.R. 8915), Voice and Visual Likeness Rights in Digital Replicas
In committee, dated , as of .
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Consent, Licensing
- Audit expectation
- none
- Setting the rule reaches
- General
As of .
Where it has got to
The text described here is S. 4591, 119th Congress, as reported in the Senate (RS). That print is BILLS-119s4591rs, published .
Locally, this stage is Reported by the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders, Calendar Number 446.
The stage above is recorded at www.congress.gov.
The House bill, H.R. 8915, is identical and was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Senate Bill 1367, the NO FAKES Act of 2025, is a related bill that the Senate record shows still referred to the Committee.
What it requires
- This is a bill, not law: Senate Bill 4591 was reported by the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment in the nature of a substitute on and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar, and has not passed either chamber. Read the lines below as what would apply if it is enacted as reported.
- Do not publicly display, distribute, transmit or otherwise make available to the public a digital replica, a newly created, computer-generated, highly realistic electronic representation readily identifiable as an individual's voice or visual likeness, without authorization by the applicable right holder (Section 2(c)(2)(A)).
- Do not distribute, import, transmit or otherwise make available to the public a product or service that is primarily designed to produce digital replicas of a specifically identified individual without the authorization of the individual, the right holder or the law (Section 2(c)(2)(B)(i)).
- A license of the digital replication right while the individual is living is valid only if it is in writing and signed, includes a reasonably specific description of the intended uses of the digital replica, and runs no longer than 10 years (Section 2(b)(2)(B)).
- If you provide an online service, on a compliant notification remove or disable access to the identified material as soon as is technologically and practically feasible, and take reasonable steps to promptly notify the right holder and the party that placed the material on the service, to keep the safe harbor (Section 2(d)(1)(B)(ii)).
- If you provide an online service that predominantly gives public access to user uploaded material, also remove or disable access to other publicly available instances that match the digital fingerprint of the notified material and are uploaded after valid notice was processed (Section 2(d)(1)(B)(ii)(I)(bb)).
- Register a designated agent with the Copyright Office and make the agent's name, address, telephone number and email address available through the online service in a location accessible to the public (Section 2(d)(2)(A)).
- Do not send a notification or counter-notification that knowingly and materially misrepresents that material is, or is not, an unauthorized digital replica, and consider in good faith the issues the Section lists before sending one (Section 2(d)(5)(A)).
- Do not rely on a disclaimer that a use of a digital replica was unauthorized or was generated through artificial intelligence as a defense to a civil action (Section 2(e)(4)).
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
The sum is per work embodying the unauthorized digital replica, not per person, and is the greater of the stated sum or actual damages plus attributable profits, so it is recoverable without proving loss. The stated sum is $5,000 per work for an individual; $25,000 per work for a provider of an online service that has undertaken a good faith effort to implement the safe-harbor duties and for an entity that is not a provider of an online service; and, for a provider that has not undertaken that effort, $5,000 per unauthorized display, copy made, transmission and instance, up to $750,000 per work. For a product or service primarily designed to produce digital replicas the stated sum is $5,000 per product or service for an individual, $25,000 for a provider with a good faith effort or an entity that is not a provider, and $750,000 for a provider without one (Section 2(e)(5)(A)).
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 5,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
No agency; the right holder, a parent or guardian of a minor right holder, or an exclusive licensee of a sound recording artist enforces through a civil action in court (Section 2(e)(1)).
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Section 2 creates a liability for unauthorized digital replicas and conditions for a safe harbor, including a designated agent registered with the Copyright Office and notice and removal. It requires no log or record from a provider, and section 2(h)(2) says nothing in the section requires a provider to monitor the service.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Senate Bill 4591, the NO FAKES Act of 2026, was introduced in the Senate on and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee ordered it reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute on and reported it on , and it was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders as Calendar Number 446 the same day.
A House bill, number 8915 in the House of Representatives, is identical and was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. The Senate bill is separate from Senate Bill 1367, the NO FAKES Act of 2025, which the Senate record shows still referred to the Committee. Section 2(b) would give each individual or right holder the right to authorize the use of a digital replica embodying the individual's voice or visual likeness.
The right is a property right that is not assignable during the life of the individual and is licensable, in whole or in part, exclusively or non-exclusively. A license of the right while the individual is living is valid only to the extent that its duration does not exceed 10 years, and only if it is in writing, signed, and includes a reasonably specific description of the intended uses of the digital replica.
The right does not expire on the death of the individual, and it terminates on the earlier of the end of the post-death periods or 70 years after the death. A digital replica is a newly created, computer-generated, highly realistic electronic representation that is readily identifiable as the voice or visual likeness of an individual.
Section 2(c) would make liable in a civil action any individual or entity that publicly displays, distributes, transmits or otherwise makes available to the public a digital replica without authorization by the applicable right holder. Liability would also reach distributing, importing, transmitting or otherwise making available to the public a product or service that is primarily designed to produce digital replicas of a specifically identified individual without authorization.
The provider of an online service would be protected from liability if, on a compliant notification, it removes or disables access to the identified material as soon as is technologically and practically feasible, and, where the service predominantly gives public access to user uploaded material, also removes later uploads that match the digital fingerprint of the notified material. A provider of such an online service must register a designated agent with the Copyright Office.
Nothing in the section would require a provider of an online service to monitor the service for, or affirmatively seek facts about, any digital replica. The bill would exclude a digital replica used in bona fide news, public affairs or sports broadcasts, documentaries, and commentary, criticism, scholarship, satire or parody, but those exclusions would not apply where the digital replica is used to depict sexually explicit conduct.
Knowingly and materially misrepresenting in a notification or counter-notification that material is, or is not, an unauthorized digital replica would be unlawful, with liability for the greater of $25,000 per notification or counter-notification or actual damages and costs.
The right holder, a parent or guardian of a minor right holder, or in certain cases an exclusive licensee of a sound recording artist could bring the civil action, within 3 years after the violation was or should have been discovered. An individual who engages in the unauthorized activity would be liable for the greater of $5,000 per work embodying the digital replica or the injured party's actual damages plus attributable profits.
An entity that is not a provider of an online service would be liable for the greater of $25,000 per work or those actual damages and profits. In the case of willful activity in which the injured party has proven malice, fraud, knowledge, or willful avoidance of knowledge, a court may award punitive damages. It would not be a defense that the defendant displayed a disclaimer that the use was unauthorized or was generated through artificial intelligence.
The rights established would preempt State law causes of action for the protection of voice and visual likeness rights in connection with a digital replica in an expressive work, subject to listed exceptions that include causes of action under State statutes or common law in existence as of . Liability would apply only to conduct occurring after the date of enactment. The section would take effect 180 days after the date of enactment.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app generates audio with AI, generates images with AI, generates video with AI or operates a social platform.