Senate bill · S10493 (2025-26)
Relates to expanding the right of publicity
New York State Senate
Same as A7295, the matching bill in the Assembly.
Summary
Expands the right of publicity to seventy years following the death of a deceased personality; makes the provisions of such section granting a right of publicity applicable to all deceased persons until the end of such 70 year period.
Summary from NY Open Legislation. How we handle summaries
Amends the Civil Rights Law.
From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Oct 21, 2026. About our data
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Purpose, from the sponsor's memo
To expand the state's right of publicity to be for 70 years, to include substantially similar imitations of a person's identifiers, and to make the right retroactive, expanding it to people who died before May 29, 2021.
Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)
Where it stands
Assigned to a committee for review.
- Introduced
- In committee
- Up for a vote
- Passed one chamber
- Passed
- Enacted
Committee
Codes · New York State Assembly
Also referred to Codes · New York State Senate, Judiciary · New York State Assembly, Judiciary · New York State Senate.
Cosponsors
Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.
Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab)- Democratic1
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The sponsor's argument
Why Erik Bottcher says this is needed
A right of publicity is the right of an individual to control their identifiable aspects of their being, including name, portrait, picture, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness. Due to laws passed in 2020, the right of publicity extends to the dead for a period of 40 years after their death. However, this bill did not apply to individuals who died before the bill effective date May 29,2021. This bill would build on our existing right of publicity and put New York in line with other states like California by extending the right to be valid for 70 years after death, as well as retroactively recognizing those who died before the 2020 law went into effect. This 70 year time frame would better reflect the average lifespan of an inheritor. The bill does not intend to infringe on the free speech of any individ- ual, as fair use protections were built into the 2020 law including but not limited to: artistic works, parody, and newsworthiness.
This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.
Full history
- May 15, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO CODES
NY Senate
- Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly
- Mar 25, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly