The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously advanced the NO FAKES Act, a major bipartisan move to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) and pave the way for sweeping federal oversight of digital replicas and AI-generated deepfakes.
The legislation — formally titled the “Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe” Act — was introduced by Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). It establishes a landmark federal standard allowing individuals to license their voice and visual likeness, with these protections extending for 70 years after their death. Crucially, the bill holds both content creators and online platforms legally liable for hosting or producing unauthorized deepfakes, providing victims with the right to sue for damages.
The bill’s advancement represents a major victory for Hollywood and the music industry, securing endorsements from major entertainment entities including Walt Disney Co., the Motion Picture Association, the Recording Academy, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group. Prior to the vote, more than 16,000 people signed an open letter from the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA urging swift passage, warning that unauthorized replicas are actively being used for scams, exploitation, and the replacement of human performance.
Signaling a rare alignment between Hollywood and Silicon Valley, tech giants including Google’s YouTube, TikTok, and OpenAI also voiced their support. Anna Makanju, OpenAI’s vice president of global affairs, previously said federal legislation is vital to protecting creators from improper impersonation.
However, the bill has drawn criticism from free-speech advocates. A coalition including the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation urged lawmakers not to advance the measure in its current form, raising First Amendment concerns.
To address these issues, the latest version of the bill includes exclusions for news, documentaries, sports, biographies, and parodies, alongside a counter-notice system for restoring wrongfully removed content.
During the hearing, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) highlighted the importance of safeguarding parody, pointing to AI-generated campaign ads run by former reality star Spencer Pratt during his Los Angeles mayoral bid as the type of satirical content that must remain protected.
The NO FAKES Act builds on the legislative foundation of last year’s TAKE IT DOWN Act, which outlawed nonconsensual intimate digital depictions, and aligns with the White House National Legislative Framework for AI. Blackburn indicated that the bill may be packaged with other pending legislation, such as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the App Store Accountability Act.
Separately on Thursday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a complementary bill aimed at establishing legal protections for visual artists against commercial AI imitations of their distinct artistic styles — a gap in current copyright law, which protects specific registered works but not an artist’s overarching likeness or style.