People would gain a new federal right to control realistic AI-generated "digital replicas" of their voice or visual likeness. Anyone who creates, posts, or distributes such a replica without permission—or who sells a tool mainly designed to make them—could be sued, with damages ranging from $5,000 to $750,000 per work depending on who is responsible. The right is treated as personal property: it lasts a person's lifetime and can pass to heirs for up to 70 years after death. Online platforms can avoid liability if they register a takedown agent with the Copyright Office and quickly remove flagged content, following a notice-and-takedown system similar to copyright law. The bill protects news reporting, documentaries, commentary, satire, and parody, but those protections do not apply to sexually explicit deepfakes. It also lets rights holders get a court subpoena to unmask anonymous violators and fines anyone who files a knowingly false takedown notice $25,000.
Civil Liberties
- Voice and likeness control — Individuals gain a federal right over AI replicas of their voice or image
- Post-mortem likeness right — Continues up to 70 years after death, inheritable by heirs
- Anonymous-speaker protection — Court subpoenas can compel platforms to identify alleged violators
- Expressive-use latitude — New liability for unauthorized realistic replicas, with news and parody exclusions
Corporate Benefits
- Section 230 immunity — Does not shield platforms from digital-replica claims
- Platform safe harbor — Compliant services avoid liability and face reduced damage caps
Transparency & Accountability
- Takedown-agent directory — Copyright Office maintains a public registry of platform agents
- False-notice penalty — $25,000 liability for knowingly false takedown or counter-notices
Congressional Summary
Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2026 or the NO FAKES Act of 2026This bill creates a federal intellectual property right to protect individuals from unauthorized digital replicas (e.g., digital content made using generative artificial intelligence) of their voice and visual likeness.Specifically, the bill gives each individual or right holder the right to authorize the use of the individual's voice or visual likeness (1) in a digital replica, or (2) for a product or service requiring authorization to avoid liability under the bill. This property right is not assignable during the individual’s lifetime but is licensable and does not expire upon the death of the individual.Generally, any individual or entity that engages in specified prohibited activities (e.g., distributing a digital replica without authorization) shall be liable in a civil action and subject to related penalties. The bill exempts specified uses from liability, such as categories of conduct likely to involve protected speech under the First Amendment (e.g., news reporting, sports broadcasts, and satire).The bill establishes (1) a notice-and-takedown process for unauthorized digital replicas; and (2) a counter-notification process, which allows an individual to contest the removal of a digital replica. The bill establishes penalties related to false or deceptive notice or counter-notice.The bill expressly preempts state laws related to digital replicas except for causes of action under state statutes or common law in existence as of January 2, 2025.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-05-20
- Date Added
- 2026-07-18
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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