U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), along with a bipartisan group of their colleagues, recently filed a revised version of their proposed legislation to protect intellectual property rights in the voice and visual likeness of individuals.
“AI should empower innovation — not give scammers and online predators a free pass to exploit someone’s voice and visual likeness without permission,” Sen. Blackburn said on May 20. “From artists and songwriters to students and everyday Americans, people deserve meaningful protections against deceptive deepfakes and digital impersonation.”
Sen. Blackburn, Rep. Salazar, and their colleagues have updated the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2026, also known as the NO FAKES Act of 2026, S. 4591/H.R. 8915.
“In this new era of AI, bad actors are quickly and easily profiting from the creativity of others. Our laws must catch up,” said bill sponsor Rep. Salazar. “The NO FAKES Act is simple and sacred: you own your identity — not Big Tech, not scammers, not algorithms. Deepfakes are digital lies that ruin real lives, and it’s time to fight back.”
Both measures were originally introduced in April 2025 by bill sponsor and lead cosponsor U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Sen. Blackburn, respectively, and sponsor Rep. Salazar and lead cosponsor U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) to protect the voice and visual likenesses of individuals and creators from digital replicas created without their consent.
Both measures have been under consideration in each chamber’s Judiciary Committee since their introductions.
Specifically, the NO FAKES Act would establish “clear guardrails that protect the creative community in Tennessee and nationwide, and we are grateful to have more support than ever before for this bipartisan and bicameral legislation,” said Sen. Blackburn.
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), also an original cosponsor of S. 4591 added that while AI presents extraordinary opportunities for technological advancement, it also poses problems, including the unauthorized replication of the voice and visual likeness of individuals.
“We must protect against such misuse, and I’m proud to co-introduce this bipartisan legislation to create safeguards from AI, which will result in greater protections for individuals and that which defines them,” he said.
If enacted, the revised NO FAKES Act would add a counter-notice procedure to better protect Americans’ free speech rights; provide an exemption for libraries, archives, and research institutions to ensure that the study of digital replicas is not inhibited; and make technical fixes to ensure that the bill works as designed for streaming music platforms, according to the lawmakers.
The latest version of the bill has garnered widespread support, including from the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association, YouTube, the Recording Academy, Warner Music Group, Sony Music, IBM, TikTok, OpenAI, Disney, The Independent Film & Television Alliance, and the Nashville Songwriters Association International, among many others.