Relates to the right of publicity

• Democratic2

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Michael Gianaris says this is needed

In 2020, New York established a right of publicity into state law, requiring consent if a person wishes to use the name, image or likeness of a deceased person for commercial purposes. The law also created some narrower protections against the unauthorized use of a deceased perform- er's digital replica in expressive audiovisual works: rather than requiring consent before using in such expressive works, a person currently only needs to offer a disclaimer, so long as the depiction is not likely to deceive the public into thinking that use was authorized. This compromise language was enacted at a time when digital replication was only just beginning. Creating digital replicas was neither easy nor affordable to do back in 2020. Now, only 5 years later, anyone with a smartphone can produce and disseminate digital replicas. Given the unparalleled dangers presented by ubiquitous digital cloning, New York must strengthen its right of publicity laws to protect deceased person- alities from being exploited. To address this growing problem, the bill would require persons wishing to use the voice or likeness of a deceased person in expressive audi- ovisual works like movies and video games to obtain the prior consent of the deceased person's heirs. A similar framework was first enacted in California in 2024, and it reflects the consensus reached among unions, performers, studios, labels, broadcasters, platforms and generative artificial intelligence systems. It is imperative that New York update its law to keep up with emerging technologies and ensure that people's voice and likeness are not being exploited for personal gain.

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.