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Is the NO FAKES Act law yet?
No. The 2026 bill, Senate bill S. 4591, was introduced on May 20, 2026, and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee reported an amended version on June 24. The Senate placed it on its Legislative Calendar on July 2, but neither chamber had passed it as of the plain-language resource’s August review. On September 30, Senator Marsha Blackburn sought unanimous consent to pass it; the presiding officer recorded an objection. That request therefore did not pass the bill. As of October 8, 2026, S. 4591 remained pending, not enacted. Congress.gov: S. 4591 Congressional Record, September 30, 2026
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That status matters: the rights, procedures, and remedies described below are proposed terms, not rights created by this bill today. Earlier versions of the NO FAKES Act differ, so descriptions of the 2025 proposal should not be assumed to match the Senate-reported 2026 text.
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What would count as a digital replica?
The Senate-reported text defines a digital replica as a newly created, computer-generated, highly realistic electronic representation readily identifiable as an individual’s voice or visual likeness. The replica must appear in a sound recording, image, audiovisual work, or transmission where the person did not actually perform or appear, or where the fundamental character of an actual performance or appearance has been materially altered. The definition excludes certain authorized reproduction, sampling, remixing, mastering, and remastering. Senate-reported bill text
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This is narrower than “any use of someone’s face” or “any AI imitation.” The proposed definition turns on realism, identifiability, how the work was made or altered, and the bill’s stated exclusions. It covers both voice and visual likeness.
What right would the bill create?
The proposal would establish a right to authorize covered uses of a person’s voice or visual likeness in digital replicas. Its definition of an individual includes a human being who is living or dead, and it provides for right holders and post-mortem interests, including requirements for certain transfers, licenses, and registrations. The bill does not make every image or recording of a person a digital replica, and it would not transfer ownership of the underlying photograph, recording, or film. A work can involve separate interests: a person’s proposed voice or likeness right on one hand, and copyright in the recorded work on the other. Senate-reported bill text
What uses would be excluded or protected as expression?
The reported bill includes exclusions for bona fide news, public affairs, or sports broadcasts and accounts; documentary, historical, or biographical depictions; bona fide commentary, criticism, scholarship, satire, or parody; and fleeting or negligible uses. These are not blanket permissions for every use labeled news, parody, or commentary: the text includes qualifications, including a limitation on those exclusions for digital replicas depicting sexually explicit conduct. The exact statutory wording and conditions matter. Senate-reported bill text
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →On September 30, Blackburn described the proposal as including First Amendment protections and named commentary, criticism, scholarship, satire, parody, news, and sports broadcast material. That is her description of a pending bill, not a court ruling or an independent conclusion about how every case would be resolved. Congressional Record, September 30, 2026
How would notices, takedowns, and counter-notices work?
The bill proposes notice-and-takedown and counter-notice procedures, as well as safe harbors for qualifying online services that meet statutory conditions. The duties vary by service category and can include removing or disabling access to specifically identified material, certain matching copies, and material linked from a notice. It is therefore not a universal rule that every service must automatically remove any material someone says is a deepfake. The text’s service-specific conditions determine how the proposed process would apply. Senate-reported bill text
Coons described the proposal as including a takedown and counter-notice system, alongside protections for parody, satire, documentaries, newscasts, and biopics. Those remarks describe the bill’s aims; the operative details are in the reported text. Congressional Record, September 30, 2026
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What remedies and defenses does the proposal include?
If enacted, the bill would provide civil remedies that include statutory damages or actual damages plus attributable profits. It generally sets a three-year period running from discovery, or from when discovery should have occurred with due diligence. These are proposed terms; they do not give someone a present claim under S. 4591 while it remains unpassed. The text also provides a limitation for purely coincidental resemblance under stated conditions and says that an AI disclaimer alone is not a defense. A specific dispute would depend on the bill’s full language and, if it became law, its application to the facts. Senate-reported bill text
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In announcing the revised proposal, Blackburn’s office said it added a counter-notice procedure, an exemption for libraries, archives, and research institutions, and technical changes intended to address streaming music platforms. Those are sponsor-described changes; the Senate-reported text is the source for the actual proposed provisions. Blackburn’s announcement Senate-reported bill text
The announcement also names endorsers from entertainment, labor, technology, and creator organizations. That is evidence of support from the listed groups, not universal agreement or proof that the bill has legal effect. Its cited statement that 92% of Americans are concerned about AI deepfakes comes from an RIAA endorsement statement reproduced in the announcement; the announcement does not identify the pollster, survey date, sample, or methodology, so it should not be treated as a verified independent finding. Blackburn’s announcement
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