Law / United States / 
New York
Right of publicity, digital replica of a deceased performer
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force 9 months, effective 19 December 2025.
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not use a deceased performer's digital replica in an audiovisual work, sound recording, or live musical performance without authorization from the applicable right holder.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
Statutory damages
Greater of $2,000 or the injured party's compensatory damages, plus disgorgement of the defendant's profits attributable to the unauthorized use; punitive damages may also be awarded.
- As of
- 6 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 2,000
What it reaches
How the hook was established
express
What makes it apply
Place of effect, Data subject residence
What it makes you log
Logging duty
The digital-replica liability standard in subdivisions 2(b) and (c) creates no duty to create, keep, or produce a log or record of a digital replica's creation or use, or of the right holder's authorization. Subdivision 7 separately requires a successor in interest or licensee to register a claim of rights with the secretary of state before bringing any action under this section, including one over a digital replica, and that registered claim becomes a public record; that registration duty runs to the person asserting the right, not to the person who created or used the replica, and predates the digital-replica provisions.
- Kind
- None
- As of
- 21 September 2026
Who checks it
Audit expectation
none
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
A person who uses a deceased performer's digital replica, a newly created, computer-generated, highly realistic electronic representation of their voice or visual likeness, in an audiovisual work, sound recording, or live musical performance, knowing the use was unauthorized by the applicable right holder, is liable for the greater of $2,000 or the injured party's compensatory damages, plus disgorgement of the defendant's profits and, in the court's discretion, punitive damages.
The section exempts parody, satire, commentary, documentaries and similar works, and news, public affairs and political-campaign uses. The digital replica provisions were first enacted effective 23 December 2022 and were further revised, per the consolidated law page's own revision history, effective 19 December 2025.
When LexLint raises it
generates_content
Read the law
New York Consolidated Laws, Civil Rights Law, as published by the New York State Senate
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.