IP Law Daily, AI NEWS: Senate Judiciary Committee approves NO FAKES Act, (Jun 22, 2026)

By Lynn Stanton

According to sponsors, the legislation would protect the voices and visual likenesses of individuals and creators from the proliferation of digital replicas created without their consent.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on June 18 approved by voice vote the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act of 2026 (S. 4591), which would create a property right in AI-generated likenesses and voices that they could use to protect themselves from “others using AI-generated replicas of themselves,” according to committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.), lead sponsor of the bill, emphasized that it protects free speech, parodies, and research.

Co-sponsor Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said, “We also provide a clear notice-and-takedown framework and safe harbors” and “have excluded commentary, criticism, scholarship, news, and sports broadcast material” from the content subject to the bill.

Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said that “the problem of unauthorized deep fakes … is urgent and demands congressional response.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said that the legislation as currently drafted raises concerns about free speech, but he added that he would support the bill today and look to have his concerns addressed before it is considered on the floor.

Similarly, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that he hoped the bill’s sponsors are willing to work with him “to make sure the bill protects free speech and parody.” He said he would support the bill in committee.

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also expressed First Amendment concerns and said that the sponsors had said they would “work with us.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said that the NO FAKES Act “builds on [the] TAKE IT DOWN Act,” which focused on nonconsensual sexual images and which was enacted last year.

In a statement released when the revised version of the legislation was introduced, she said, “We need our laws to be as sophisticated as this quickly advancing technology. Our bipartisan NO FAKES Act will establish rules of the road to protect people from having their voice and likeness replicated through AI without their permission.”

She noted in a press release about an earlier version that the NO FAKES Act “[l]argely preempt State laws addressing digital replicas to create a workable national standard.”

In a statement, National Association of Broadcasters President and Chief Executive Officer Curtis LeGeyt said, “NAB applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee for advancing the bipartisan NO FAKES Act. Local broadcasters work every day to earn the trust of their communities, and unauthorized AI-generated replicas undermine that trust by enabling deception and the misuse of voices and likenesses of trusted journalists and on-air personalities. This legislation establishes important safeguards against harmful deepfakes while supporting responsible innovation and respecting the First Amendment.”

Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Meredith Rose said, “This bill has gotten better, but still has a ways to go. We applaud the inclusion of protections that would prevent living individuals’ likeness rights from being seized by creditors or in bankruptcy. However, there’s still work to be done, including protecting individual users from predatory, opaque ‘click-wrap’ contracts that could result in misuse of individuals’ likenesses up to 10 years after simply downloading an app. This bill is designed to protect people represented by a lawyer—not end users of apps or services with click-to-agree contracts. We will keep fighting until those users are given the legal protection they deserve.”

Sen. Blackburn noted in a press release that the NO FAKES Act is endorsed by the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association, YouTube, OpenAI, Sony Music, the Walt Disney Co., IBM, the American Bar Association, ASCAP, the Nashville Songwriters Association International, the Authors Guild, and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, among others.

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