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The US state voice and likeness law map
There is no single US law for AI voice and likeness. There is a growing patchwork of state statutes and a pending federal bill. Here is the map as it stands.
Published 2026-07-22 · 6 min read
Key takeaways
- There is no single US law for AI voice and likeness. Right of publicity is state law, so protection varies.
- Tennessee’s ELVIS Act, effective in 2024, added voice explicitly and became a template for other states.
- A growing number of states, including California, Illinois, New York, Texas, and Washington, have enacted or strengthened digital-replica protections.
- The federal NO FAKES Act would create a national right against unauthorized digital replicas, but it is still pending, not law.
- Consent for AI-training use is the practical protection that works across the patchwork.
Owners and buyers both ask the same question: what law governs an AI copy of a person’s voice or face? In the US there is no single answer yet. There is a patchwork of state right-of-publicity laws, a wave of new digital-replica statutes, and a federal bill that has not passed.
This is a moving map. The direction is clear even where the details are not: more states are protecting voice and likeness against unauthorized AI replicas, and the rules differ from one state to the next.
The starting point: right of publicity
Right of publicity is the older idea underneath all of this. It protects a person’s name, image, and likeness from unauthorized commercial use. It has always been state law, which is why it varies so much. Some states have strong statutes. Others rely on case law. A few have little at all.
AI forced an update. Older publicity laws did not clearly cover a synthetic voice or a generated face. The new statutes are written to close that gap.
Tennessee and the ELVIS Act
Tennessee moved first. The ELVIS Act, signed in 2024 and effective that July, added voice to the state’s right-of-publicity protections alongside name, photograph, and likeness. It was written with AI voice cloning in mind, and it replaced the state’s earlier publicity statute.
It matters as a template. The ELVIS Act showed other states a model for naming voice explicitly and targeting unauthorized digital replicas. Several followed.
The spread of state digital-replica laws
Since Tennessee, a growing number of states have enacted or strengthened digital-replica protections. California, Illinois, New York, Texas, and Washington are among those that have acted, each with its own scope, defenses, and rules for the deceased. Washington’s expanded right-of-publicity law is one of the more recent to take effect.
For a buyer, this means location matters. A use that is fine in one state may be actionable in another. For an owner, it means their voice and likeness carry protection that is getting stronger, not weaker.
The federal piece: the NO FAKES Act
At the federal level, the NO FAKES Act is the bill to watch. It would create a federal right against unauthorized digital replicas of a person’s voice and visual likeness. It has been introduced and reintroduced, gathered support from parts of the music and technology industries, and advanced through committee.
As of this writing it is not law. It is pending. Treat it as a signal of direction, not a rule you can rely on yet. Until it passes, the state patchwork governs.
What the map means in practice
For buyers, the safe path does not depend on tracking every state line. It is consent. If the person whose voice or likeness appears in the data has given specific permission for AI-training use, the patchwork becomes far less threatening. Consent travels better than jurisdiction.
For owners, the takeaway is that your voice and likeness are protected assets in more places every year. Licensing them with consent attached is how you turn that protection into something you control and get paid for.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Is there a federal law protecting AI voice and likeness?
Not yet. The NO FAKES Act would create one, and it has advanced through committee, but it has not passed. Until it does, protection comes from a patchwork of state right-of-publicity and digital-replica laws.
What did the ELVIS Act change?
Tennessee’s ELVIS Act added a person’s voice to the state’s right-of-publicity protections, alongside name, photograph, and likeness, and it was written with AI voice cloning in mind. It took effect in 2024 and became a model other states have followed.
How can a buyer stay safe across so many state laws?
Rely on consent rather than jurisdiction. If the identifiable person in the data has given specific permission for AI-training use, the differences between state laws matter far less. Consent captured at the source is the durable protection.
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