The Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously cleared the No Fakes Act, a bill that would crack down on the use of unauthorized AI deepfakes.
The legislation, which passed through a voice vote on Thursday, gives individuals the right by law to authorize the use of their voice and likeness in AI-generated videos and photos and to demand a takedown of videos that use that voice and likeness without their consent. The right, which can be transferred and licensed to heirs, executors and others after the individual’s death, terminates no longer than 70 years after their passing.
The bill, which was revised after first being introduced to Congress last year, protects First Amendment uses, such as for news reporting and parody, as well as education and research for libraries and related institutions.
It also provides clear notice and takedown obligations for online services, institutes a new “counter-notice process” when content is improperly removed to support free speech and reduces litigation by creating one national rule and allowing user-generated content platforms to avoid liability when promptly removing unauthorized deepfakes.
It is unclear if and when the legislation will be scheduled for a vote on the Senator floor.
The update on the legislation comes after the White House notably urged Congress to establish a federal framework protecting individuals from the “unauthorized distribution or commercial use of AI-generated digital replicas of their voice, likeness, or other identifiable attributes” in its legislative framework for AI released in March.
At the time, it noted there should be “clear exceptions for parody, satire, news reporting, and other expressive works protected by the First Amendment.”
Its co-sponsors include Republican Senators Thom Tillis and Marsha Blackburn and Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Chris Coons. Other lawmakers sponsoring the bill in the House of Representatives include Rep. Maria Salazar and Rep. Madeleine Dean.
Supporters of the bill include Senators Dick Durbin, Katie Britt, Mazie Hirono, Ashley Moody, Peter Welch and Adam Schiff, various Hollywood unions like SAG-AFTRA and the AFL-CIO, musicians like country singer Randy Travis, trade organizations like the Motion Picture Association, The Recording Academy, the National Association of Broadcasters and the Recording Industry Association of America and tech companies using and developing AI like YouTube, IBM and OpenAI.
