Laws & Statutes › CA › CA-AB-1836
AB-1836
CA · State · USA
CA
USA
● Enacted
Effective Date
2025-01-01
California AB 1836 — Use of Likeness: Digital Replica (Chapter 258)
Amends California Civil Code § 3344.1 to extend post-mortem publicity rights to cover AI-generated digital replicas of deceased personalities. Any person who produces, distributes, or makes available a digital replica of a deceased personality's voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording without prior consent is liable for at least $10,000 per violation or actual damages, whichever is greater. Exemptions exist for news, public affairs, sports, comment, criticism, scholarship, satire, parody, documentary or biographical use (unless the use creates a false impression of authenticity), and fleeting or incidental uses. The law creates a private right of action for injured parties, including registered successors in interest and licensees, with no designated agency enforcer.
Mapped Requirements
CP-02 Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery
Entry Last Reviewed
2026-04-02
AI generated
Summary

Amends California Civil Code § 3344.1 to extend post-mortem publicity rights to cover AI-generated digital replicas of deceased personalities. Any person who produces, distributes, or makes available a digital replica of a deceased personality's voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording without prior consent is liable for at least $10,000 per violation or actual damages, whichever is greater. Exemptions exist for news, public affairs, sports, comment, criticism, scholarship, satire, parody, documentary or biographical use (unless the use creates a false impression of authenticity), and fleeting or incidental uses. The law creates a private right of action for injured parties, including registered successors in interest and licensees, with no designated agency enforcer.

Enforcement & Penalties
Enforcement Authority
Private right of action. No designated agency enforcer. Any injured party — including successors in interest to the deceased personality's rights or licensees who have registered their claim with the Secretary of State — may bring a civil action. A successor in interest or licensee may not recover damages for uses occurring before registering the claim with the Secretary of State. In the case of a professional musician, the action may also be brought by any person or entity holding a contract for exclusive personal services as a recording artist or an exclusive license to distribute sound recordings capturing the individual's audio performances.
Penalties
For digital replica uses in expressive audiovisual works or sound recordings: greater of $10,000 or actual damages suffered by the person controlling the deceased personality's likeness rights. For other unauthorized uses of a deceased personality's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness on products or in advertising: greater of $750 or actual damages, plus any profits from the unauthorized use attributable to the use and not already reflected in actual damages. Punitive damages may also be awarded. The prevailing party is entitled to attorney's fees and costs. Remedies are cumulative and in addition to any others provided by law.
Who Is Covered
Compliance Obligations 2 obligations · click obligation ID to open requirement page
CP-02 Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery · CP-02.4 · DeveloperDeployerDistributor · Content Generation
Civ. Code § 3344.1(a)(2)(A)(i)-(ii)
Plain Language
Any person who produces, distributes, or makes available a computer-generated digital replica of a deceased personality's voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording is liable for at least $10,000 or actual damages (whichever is greater) unless prior consent was obtained from the person controlling the deceased personality's rights. Five categories of use are exempt from the consent requirement: news/public affairs/sports, comment/criticism/scholarship/satire/parody, documentary or biographical use (unless the use creates a false impression the deceased person actually participated), fleeting or incidental use, and advertisements for any of those exempt works. Notably, the definition of 'digital replica' excludes copyright-holder-authorized sampling, remixing, mastering, and digital remastering. The right persists for 70 years after death, and successors must register with the Secretary of State before recovering damages.
Statutory Text
(i) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and subject to clause (ii), a person who produces, distributes, or makes available the digital replica of a deceased personality's voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording without prior consent from a person specified in subdivision (c) shall be liable to any injured party in an amount equal to the greater of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or the actual damages suffered by a person controlling the rights to the deceased personality's likeness. (ii) For purposes of this section, a digital replica may be used without consent if the use of the digital replica meets any of the following criteria: (I) The use is in connection with any news, public affairs, or sports broadcast or account. (II) The use is for purposes of comment, criticism, scholarship, satire, or parody. (III) The use is a representation of the individual as the individual's self in a documentary or in a historical or biographical manner, including some degree of fictionalization, unless the use is intended to create, and does create, the false impression that the work is an authentic recording in which the individual participated. (IV) The use is fleeting or incidental. (V) The use is in an advertisement or commercial announcement for a work described in subclauses (I) to (IV), inclusive.
Other · Content Generation
Civ. Code § 3344.1(f)(1)-(4)
Plain Language
Successors in interest and licensees of a deceased personality's rights must register their claim with the California Secretary of State before they can recover damages for unauthorized uses. The Secretary of State maintains a public registry of these claims on its website. This is a procedural prerequisite for private enforcement — it creates no compliance obligation on persons who produce, distribute, or make available digital replicas.
Statutory Text
(1) A successor in interest to the rights of a deceased personality under this section or a licensee thereof shall not recover damages for a use prohibited by this section that occurs before the successor in interest or licensee registers a claim of the rights under paragraph (2). (2) Any person claiming to be a successor in interest to the rights of a deceased personality under this section or a licensee thereof may register that claim with the Secretary of State on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State and upon payment of a fee as set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 12195 of the Government Code. The form shall be verified and shall include the name and date of death of the deceased personality, the name and address of the claimant, the basis of the claim, and the rights claimed. (3) Upon receipt and after filing of any document under this section, the Secretary of State shall post the document along with the entire registry of persons claiming to be a successor in interest to the rights of a deceased personality or a registered licensee under this section upon the Secretary of State's internet website. The Secretary of State may microfilm or reproduce by other techniques any of the filings or documents and destroy the original filing or document. The microfilm or other reproduction of any document under this section shall be admissible in any court of law. The microfilm or other reproduction of any document may be destroyed by the Secretary of State 70 years after the death of the personality named therein. (4) Claims registered under this subdivision shall be public records.