NO FAKES Act Moves Forward with Bipartisan Support in House

On the heels of the Senate introduction of a companion bill in late July, U.S. Representatives María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Joe Morelle (D-NY), Rob Wittman (R-VA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) today introduced the ‘‘Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2024’’ (NO FAKES Act) in the House of Representatives. The bill would create a federal IP right to an individual’s voice and likeness. It joins several key patent bills that are also moving forward on the path toward becoming law.

Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the bipartisan Senate version of the bill in July. A discussion draft of the bill was first introduced in October 2023 with the stated goal of “protect[ing] the voice and visual likenesses of individuals from unfair use through generative artificial intelligence (GAI).”

Congress has been interested in finding ways to curb abuse of artificial intelligence (AI) to create unauthorized digital replicas of individuals and their works. The Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property heard from six witnesses in April to get their thoughts on the discussion draft of the NO FAKES Act and they urged the lawmakers to strike a careful balance between treading on First Amendment rights and allowing artists more control over their likeness. When the Senate bill was introduced, organizations including OpenAI, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Music Group, the Authors Guild, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association (MPA), Universal Music Group and SAG-AFTRA came out in support.

In an announcement about the House bill today, the Human Artistry Campaign’s Senior Advisor, Dr. Moiya McTier, said the proposed legislation “is essential to protecting people and our culture while acknowledging long-held exceptions for free speech. As some unethical AI developers move recklessly forward, Congress must pass this bipartisan legislation.”

The bill’s House sponsors today said Americans need clear rules to ensure they can control their own likenesses, without impeding innovation. “By granting everyone a clear, federal right to control digital replicas of their own voice and likeness, the NO FAKES Act will empower victims of deep fakes; safeguard human creativity and artistic expression; and defend against sexually explicit deepfakes,” said Representative Dean.

The Human Artistry Campaign issued a press release that included supporting statements from the Association of American Publishers, the Association of Independent Music Publishers, the Artist Rights Alliance, BMI, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and more.

The Human Artistry Campaign today also released poll figures showing that U.S. voters are “deeply concerned about the impact of AI on society.” According to the poll results, which were based on a survey conducted between July 25 and 29, 2024, among 808 Registered Voters Nationwide, 85% of those surveyed believed “we need new guardrails to protect people from being exploited by AI.” Nationwide, 64% of voters said voice cloning and deepfakes are a major problem, while 69% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans thought so. 79% of those polled overall strongly agreed AI developers should receive consent before using a person’s voice or likeness. And 75% of people polled strongly agreed that artists should be able to take legal action against companies that use their creative works. When it comes to congressional regulation of AI companies, 64% of Republicans strongly agreed Congress should create new policies to protect artists compared to 74% of Democrats.

Source: Human Artistry Campaign Poll

Patent Bills Also Advancing

The NO FAKES Act now joins several patent bills as key pro-IP proposals that have been introduced on a bipartisan basis in both the Senate and House. On Friday, Representatives Kevin Kiley (R-CA) and Scott Peters (D-CA) introduced the House version of the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2024 (PERA), which, like the Senate bill introduced last year, would explicitly eliminate all judicially-created exceptions to U.S. patent eligibility law.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a markup hearing on PERA and two other major patent bills next week: the Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act, and the Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement (IDEA) Act. The Innovation Alliance released a statement late Thursday calling the planned markup “historic”.

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