NO FAKES Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill creates a new federal property right giving every person control over their voice and visual likeness in AI-generated digital replicas. This right lasts for life, cannot be signed away permanently, and can be passed down to heirs for up to 70 years after death.
• Anyone who creates, shares, or distributes an unauthorized digital replica can be sued. Individuals face at least $5,000 per violation, while companies and online platforms that fail to act in good faith can face fines up to $750,000 per work. The law also targets tools specifically designed to produce deepfakes of identified people.
• Online platforms get legal protection if they follow a notice-and-takedown system similar to copyright law. When someone reports an unauthorized deepfake, the platform must remove it as quickly as technically possible and also use digital fingerprinting to block matching copies from being re-uploaded.
• The bill carves out protections for free speech and creativity. News broadcasts, documentaries, commentary, criticism, satire, and parody are all excluded from liability, but none of these exceptions apply if the digital replica is used for sexually explicit content.
• Special protections exist for minors. Licensing agreements involving anyone under 18 are capped at 5 years, automatically end when the person turns 18, and must be approved by a court under state law.