Senate Judiciary advances NO FAKES Act on unanimous vote

The US Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the NO FAKES Act via a unanimous vote, sending the AI likeness bill toward the Senate floor with backing from a coalition that spans Hollywood, the recording industry and major technology firms.

S. 4591, the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2026, would create a federal right over a person's voice and visual likeness and establish civil liability for unauthorized AI-generated digital replicas. The bill would hold individuals and companies liable for distributing unauthorized replicas and hold platforms liable for hosting them with knowledge that the depicted person did not consent. It carves out certain replicas under First Amendment protections and preempts future state laws governing digital replicas while preserving existing ones.

Lead sponsors Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) framed the measure as a guardrail against deepfakes.

"AI should empower innovation – not give scammers and online predators a free pass to exploit someone's voice and visual likeness without permission," Blackburn said. "From artists and songwriters to students and everyday Americans, people deserve meaningful protections against deceptive deepfakes and digital impersonation."

A revised version introduced in May added a counternotice procedure and an exemption for libraries, archives and research institutions. A spokesperson for Blackburn did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The bill drew an unusually broad endorsement list, including the Recording Industry Association of America Inc.; Sag-Aftra; Motion Picture Association of America; Walt Disney Co.; Getty Images Holdings Inc.; and tech companies OpenAI LLC, YouTube LLC, TikTok Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.

Critics focused on the platform liability structure. NetChoice, a technology trade group, opposed the markup, with Vice President of Government Affairs Amy Bos saying, "good intentions do not make good law," and warning the bill would push platforms to remove lawful content. The group also argued the measure fails to deliver the national standard its sponsors promised because it leaves state digital-replica laws intact.

Violators of the law would face statutory damages between $5,000 and $25,000 per violation, or actual financial damages plus any profits made from the replica.

Online services that willfully fail to remove reported content face steeper penalties of up to $750,000.

Public Knowledge did not oppose the bill, but Meredith Rose, the organization's senior policy counsel, said it needs to be significantly overhauled.

"Imagine using an app like FaceTune, which contains AI features, only for that app to be bought up by a competitor for access to those likeness rights — and suddenly, Amazon.com Inc. holds the right to make deepfakes of you, without you knowing," Rose said. "Your likeness rights could be literally stripped from you in a debt collection or bankruptcy proceeding and used without your authorization."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation signed a coalition letter opposing the bill as written.

A trio of Republicans — Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) — raised First Amendment concerns at the markup without blocking its passage.

Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) and Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) led the House companion bill, which has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

What's happening this week?

Below is a list of hearings, webinars and other tech, media and telecom-related events taking place virtually and in person in the nation's capital and beyond this week:

June 23

➤ Center for a New American Security: Achieving US Strategic Priorities in Quantum Networking

June 24

➤ Atlantic Council: Roberto Viola on the EU’s tech sovereignty agenda and US-EU cooperation

June 25

➤ S&P Global Market Intelligence: AI Infrastructure & Energy Resilience: Your Top Questions Answered

➤ S&P Global Market Intelligence: Future-Proofing Private Credit Valuations: Meeting the Next Wave of Investor, Liquidity, and Regulatory Demands

➤ Committee on House Administration: The Congressional Research Service and the Future of AI-Enabled Policy Analysis

➤ Federal Communications Commission: Open Meeting

June 26

➤ AI Agents Showcase