What is the NO FAKES Act?
The Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act would add a federal layer to what has been a matter of state law: control over commercial and other uses of a person's identity. It is aimed at generative AI. The bill defines a "digital replica" as a newly created, computer-generated, highly realistic electronic representation readily identifiable as a person's voice or visual likeness, in a recording, image or audiovisual work in which the person did not actually perform, or in which a real performance has been materially altered. Ordinary sampling, remixing and remastering authorized by the copyright holder are excluded. The definitions are in the reported text.
The 2026 bill replaces earlier versions. Sen. Chris Coons introduced S. 4591 on May 20, 2026, and Rep. María Elvira Salazar introduced the identical H.R. 8915 the same day. Congress.gov lists the 2025 versions, S. 1367 and H.R. 2794, as related bills. Senate cosponsors include Marsha Blackburn, Amy Klobuchar, Thom Tillis, Dick Durbin, Katie Britt, Mazie Hirono, Adam Schiff and Richard Blumenthal, according to Congress.gov.
What rights it would create
The core of the bill is a new "digital replication right." According to the Congressional Research Service summary on Congress.gov, it is a federal intellectual property right giving each person, or later the right holder, the power to authorize the use of a digital replica of their voice or visual likeness. Anyone who publicly displays, distributes or otherwise makes available an unauthorized replica, with actual knowledge (or willful blindness) that it is unauthorized, would be liable in a civil action.
Voice
The right covers a person's voice on equal terms with their image. That is the change most relevant to voice cloning. Some state publicity statutes did not expressly cover voice; Tennessee's, for example, added voice only in 2024 through the ELVIS Act, according to Latham & Watkins. Under the bill, a cloned vocal performance in a song or a synthetic voice in a video could be actionable without proof that it was used to sell a product. For how state publicity law treats voice today, see our analysis of voice, likeness and the right of publicity.
Likeness and digital replicas
The right cannot be assigned during the person's life, but it can be licensed. Under the reported text, a license for a living adult is valid for no more than 10 years and must be in writing, signed, and include a reasonably specific description of the intended uses. A license involving a minor is limited to 5 years and ends when the minor turns 18. After death, the right lasts 10 years and can be renewed in 5-year periods if the right holder shows active, authorized public use of the voice or likeness in the two years before expiry. It ends no later than 70 years after death.
The bill would also make liable anyone who distributes a product or service primarily designed to produce unauthorized replicas of specific people, a provision aimed at dedicated cloning tools rather than general-purpose AI models.
Exceptions and platform duties
The bill exempts uses likely to be protected by the First Amendment. The CRS summary lists news reporting, sports broadcasts and satire among them, and the text also covers documentary, historical and biographical uses, commentary, criticism and scholarship, subject to conditions in the reported version.
For platforms, the bill borrows from copyright's notice-and-takedown model. An online service that hosts user uploads avoids liability if it adopts and enforces a policy for terminating repeat violators and removes or disables access to a specifically identified unauthorized replica promptly after a compliant notice. A counter-notice process lets the uploader contest removal, and false or deceptive notices carry their own penalties, starting at $25,000 per notice. Services have no general duty to monitor for replicas. Makers of general products and services that are merely capable of producing replicas are shielded unless the product is one designed for unauthorized replicas.
The bill also declares itself a law "pertaining to intellectual property" for purposes of 47 U.S.C. § 230(e)(2). Section 230 does not protect platforms against intellectual property claims, so this provision would keep platforms exposed to NO FAKES claims except through the bill's own safe harbors.
Damages
Remedies are civil. A plaintiff may recover the greater of actual damages plus attributable profits, or a statutory amount: $5,000 per work for an individual defendant; $25,000 per work for an online service that made a good-faith effort to comply with the safe harbor rules or for an entity that is not an online service; and, for an online service that made no good-faith effort, $5,000 per display, copy or transmission, up to $750,000 per work. Injunctions are available. Claims must be brought within 3 years. Liability would apply only to conduct after enactment, and the Act would take effect 180 days after enactment.
Has the NO FAKES Act passed?
No. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on June 18, 2026 to report S. 4591 favorably with a substitute amendment, and Chairman Chuck Grassley reported it to the Senate on June 24, 2026, without a written report. It was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar as Calendar No. 446 the same day. Those steps are recorded in the Congress.gov action history. Sen. Peter Welch spoke in support at the June 18 markup.
As of November 9, 2026, the Senate has not scheduled or held a floor vote. The House bill, H.R. 8915, was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on May 20, 2026 and has had no hearing or markup recorded on Congress.gov. To become law, the bill would need to pass both chambers in identical form and be signed.
NO FAKES Act vs the ELVIS Act and state laws
Most of the existing protection for voice and likeness comes from state right of publicity law, which varies from state to state. Tennessee's ELVIS Act, signed on March 21, 2024 and effective July 1, 2024, amended that state's publicity statute to protect an individual's voice, including simulations of it, and to reach unauthorized commercial use beyond advertising, according to Latham & Watkins and Manatt.
The NO FAKES Act would differ from state statutes in three ways. It would be nationwide and federal, so claims could be brought in federal court under one standard. It is built specifically around digital replicas rather than all uses of identity. And it would preempt state laws on digital replicas, with carve-outs: under the reported text, it would not displace state statutory or common-law claims in existence as of January 2, 2025, state laws specifically regulating sexually explicit or election-related replicas, or pre-2025 state claims against distributors of replica tools. That means laws like the ELVIS Act would survive, while new state digital replica laws passed after that date could be preempted.
For sexually explicit deepfakes specifically, the more direct federal measures are the TAKE IT DOWN Act, already in force, and the DEFIANCE Act, which has passed the Senate.
There is no federal right in your voice or likeness yet, because the NO FAKES Act has not passed. Senate Judiciary approved S. 4591 on June 18, 2026, but it has had no floor vote, and the House version has not moved. If enacted, it would let people license digital replicas of themselves, set up notice and takedown for platforms and allow civil damages from $5,000 to $750,000.
What changed
- 2026-06-24: Reported to the Senate by Sen. Grassley with a substitute amendment; placed on the calendar (No. 446).
- 2026-06-18: Senate Judiciary Committee orders S. 4591 reported favorably.
- 2026-05-20: S. 4591 (Sen. Coons) and identical H.R. 8915 (Rep. Salazar) introduced.
Frequently asked questions
What is the NO FAKES Act?
A federal bill that would give every person a property right to authorize or refuse digital replicas of their voice and visual likeness, enforceable by civil lawsuit. It includes First Amendment exceptions, a notice-and-takedown system with safe harbors for platforms, and statutory damages ranging from $5,000 to $750,000 depending on the defendant.
Has the NO FAKES Act passed?
No. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved S. 4591 on June 18, 2026, and it has been on the Senate calendar since June 24, 2026. As of November 9, 2026, neither the Senate nor the House has voted on it, and the House version has not left committee.
What is the status of the NO FAKES Act?
Reported by committee and awaiting a Senate floor vote. The Senate bill is S. 4591; the identical House bill, H.R. 8915, is pending in the House Judiciary Committee. No floor action has been scheduled in either chamber as of November 9, 2026.
How is the NO FAKES Act different from the ELVIS Act?
The ELVIS Act is a Tennessee law, in effect since July 1, 2024, that adds voice to the state's right of publicity. The NO FAKES Act is a pending federal bill limited to digital replicas, with nationwide reach and platform takedown rules. It would leave state claims existing on January 2, 2025, including Tennessee's, in place.
Sources
- Congress.gov: S. 4591, NO FAKES Act of 2026, all actions
- Congress.gov: H.R. 8915, NO FAKES Act of 2026
- S. 4591, reported in Senate (GovInfo)
- Sen. Peter Welch: statement at the June 18, 2026 Judiciary markup
- Latham & Watkins: The ELVIS Act, Tennessee Shakes Up Its Right of Publicity Law
- Manatt: Tennessee's ELVIS Act Expands Publicity Rights for Individuals' Voices
This page is journalism and commentary, not legal advice. AI law changes quickly; check the primary sources above and consult qualified counsel for your situation.