Laws & Statutes › GA › GA-HB-1399
HB-1399
GA · State · USA
GA
USA
● Pending
Proposed Effective Date
2026-07-01
Georgia House Bill 1399 — Georgia Likeness, Expression, Generative AI, and Commercial Yield (LEGACY) Act
The LEGACY Act establishes a statutory property right in an individual's likeness and prohibits the creation, distribution, or exploitation of digital replicas of an individual's likeness for commercial purposes without the individual's express written consent. The property right survives death for 50 years, with post-mortem use requiring consent from the individual during life, the estate, or a legal representative. Entities that knowingly distribute digital replicas after receiving notice of non-consent are liable. The Act creates a private right of action for aggrieved individuals with remedies including actual damages, punitive damages, equitable relief, and attorney's fees. No designated agency enforcer exists; enforcement is entirely through private litigation.
Passage Likelihood
Low
Chamber No passage
Committee No action
Majority party No
Bipartisan No
Prior session None
Legislative History
2026-02-19 other House Hopper
2026-02-20 other House First Readers
2026-02-24 other House Second Readers
Mapped Requirements
CP-02 Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery CP-01 Deceptive & Manipulative AI Conduct
Official Sources
Full Text ↗
Entry Last Reviewed
2026-03-27
AI generated
Summary

The LEGACY Act establishes a statutory property right in an individual's likeness and prohibits the creation, distribution, or exploitation of digital replicas of an individual's likeness for commercial purposes without the individual's express written consent. The property right survives death for 50 years, with post-mortem use requiring consent from the individual during life, the estate, or a legal representative. Entities that knowingly distribute digital replicas after receiving notice of non-consent are liable. The Act creates a private right of action for aggrieved individuals with remedies including actual damages, punitive damages, equitable relief, and attorney's fees. No designated agency enforcer exists; enforcement is entirely through private litigation.

Enforcement & Penalties
Enforcement Authority
Private right of action. No designated agency enforcer. An individual who is aggrieved by a violation of the article may bring a civil action. Standing requires that the individual be aggrieved by the violation. Courts may also independently grant injunctive relief. No cure period or safe harbor is specified.
Penalties
Aggrieved individuals may recover actual damages, equitable relief including injunction or restitution of money and property, punitive damages, reasonable attorney's fees and costs, and any other relief the court deems proper. No statutory minimum is specified. Actual monetary harm is not required — equitable relief and punitive damages are independently available.
Who Is Covered
Compliance Obligations 5 obligations · click obligation ID to open requirement page
CP-02 Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery · CP-02.4 · DeveloperDeployer · Content Generation
O.C.G.A. § 10-1-973(a)-(b), (f)
Plain Language
No person or entity may create, distribute, or commercially exploit a digital replica of an individual's likeness without that individual's express written consent. Consent must be specific — it must affirmatively state the allowance, extent, purpose, and duration of the use. Consent cannot be implied by silence, buried in general terms and conditions, or derived from an unrelated prior agreement. The absence of compensation to the individual does not waive the consent requirement. Liability turns solely on whether consent was obtained, making this a strict consent-based regime with no intent or knowledge element for the initial creation or use.
Statutory Text
(a) Creation, distribution, or exploitation of an individual's likeness in a digital replica for commercial purposes requires consent from the individual for such use. (b) Absence of compensation to an individual for the use of his or her likeness shall not negate the requirements of consent under this article. (f) Liability under this article shall only depend on whether or not an individual consented to the use of his or her likeness in a digital replica.
CP-02 Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery · CP-02.4 · DeployerDistributor · Content Generation
O.C.G.A. § 10-1-973(d)
Plain Language
Once an entity receives notice that an individual did not consent to use of their digital replica, the entity violates the Act if it knowingly continues to distribute or make available that digital replica. This is a notice-and-takedown style obligation — unlike § 10-1-973(a), which imposes strict liability for commercial use without consent, this subsection applies specifically to distributors who receive post-hoc notice and requires a knowledge element (knowingly distributes or continues to make available). Platforms and distributors should implement processes to receive and act on non-consent notices to avoid liability.
Statutory Text
(d) After receiving notice that an individual did not consent for the use of a digital replica, any entity that knowingly distributes or continues to make available such digital replica shall be in violation of this article.
CP-01 Deceptive & Manipulative AI Conduct · CP-01.5 · DeveloperDeployer · Content Generation
O.C.G.A. § 10-1-973(e)
Plain Language
Even where consent has been obtained for commercial use of a digital replica, the replica must not falsely imply that the individual personally endorsed or approved the specific use. This is an independent prohibition — it applies on top of the consent requirement and prevents a consented digital replica from being used in a misleading endorsement context. Entities using digital replicas commercially must ensure the presentation does not create a false impression of personal endorsement beyond what was actually authorized.
Statutory Text
(e) A digital replica used for commercial purposes shall not falsely imply that an individual personally endorsed or approved such use of his or her likeness.
Other · Content Generation
O.C.G.A. § 10-1-973(c)
Plain Language
Creating a digital replica of someone's likeness does not give the creator any ownership, authorship, or exclusive rights over that individual's likeness. This prevents entities from using the act of generating an AI replica as a basis for claiming IP rights over the depicted person's identity. The provision reinforces that the property right in likeness belongs to the individual under § 10-1-972, not to whoever produces the digital replica.
Statutory Text
(c) No individual or entity shall claim ownership, authorship, or exclusive rights over an individual's likeness solely by the use of an individual's likeness in a digital replica.
Other · Content Generation
O.C.G.A. § 10-1-972(a)-(c)
Plain Language
Every individual has a statutory property right in their likeness that is transferable, licensable, and survives death for 50 years. Post-mortem use of a deceased individual's likeness in a digital replica requires consent from one of three sources: the individual during their lifetime, the individual's estate, or a legal representative. For product counsel, this means that consent must be obtained even for digital replicas of deceased individuals, and the consent chain must be traced through estate or representative authorization. The 50-year post-mortem window is significant for entertainment, media, and AI companies working with historical figures or deceased public figures.
Statutory Text
(a) Every individual has a property right to his or her likeness. (b) The property rights of an individual's likeness are transferable, licensable, and descendible and shall survive the death of the individual for 50 years. (c) Post-mortem use of an individual's likeness shall be permitted only where such individual consented to such use during his or her life, consent is given by the estate of such individual, or consent is given by a legal representative of such individual.