New federal law gives heirs control over your likeness for 70 years after death.
H.R. 8915 — NO FAKES Act of 2026 · Filed by Maria Salazar (R-FL) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced May 20, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The NO FAKES Act creates a new federal property right in a person's voice and visual likeness, protecting against unauthorized AI-generated digital replicas. It grants individuals and their heirs the exclusive right to authorize use of their likeness in deepfakes and similar synthetic media, establishes liability for platforms and creators who distribute unauthorized replicas without consent, and creates a notice-and-takedown system similar to copyright law. The right survives death and can be licensed or inherited, with statutory damages ranging from $5,000 to $750,000 per violation.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is the creation of a new, perpetual, inheritable property right in voice and likeness, coupled with a DMCA-style notice-and-takedown regime. While framed as anti-deepfake protection, the operative effect is to grant individuals and their estates exclusive control over synthetic media use of their likeness for up to 70 years post-mortem, with broad liability for platforms and creators.
What the text implies
- Post-mortem right extends 70 years after death, allowing heirs with no connection to the original person to control use of their likeness and suppress unflattering portrayals, documentaries, or historical commentary indefinitely.
- The 'fleeting or negligible' exception to liability is undefined and will likely generate litigation; a single frame of a deepfake in a news segment could trigger $5,000–$750,000 liability depending on platform compliance.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
entertainment industry talent and estates; rights management and licensing intermediaries; legal services (litigation and licensing)