Over 300 companies trust Media Removal. Get a Quote Now >

Identity, image and privacy

Right of Publicity Laws: Name, Likeness, Voice and AI Clones

The right of publicity lets people control commercial use of their name, image, likeness and voice. Here are the key state laws and how to remove fake endorsements and scam ads.

Reviewed byIsabella Custódio Mesquita
Verified November 1, 2026
14 min read
21 official sources

What is the right of publicity? The short answer

The right of publicity is a person’s right to control the commercial use of their identity: name, image, likeness and, in a growing number of states, voice. It is what makes it unlawful in many states to put someone’s face in an advertisement, on a product or in a fake endorsement without their consent. In the United States it is state law. Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute notes that the right is largely protected by state common or statutory law, that only about half the states have distinctly recognized it, and that federal protection comes mainly through the Lanham Act when an identity is used to falsely advertise a product or suggest its origin.

This guide covers the main state statutes, the exceptions for news and expressive works, and what companies and executives can do when an ad, an AI voice clone or a fake endorsement uses their likeness to sell something.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Media Removal is not a law firm. Laws differ by state and country and change over time, so speak to a licensed attorney where you live before making a decision about your own case.

What the right of publicity protects

The right is about commercial use. Typical examples are an advertisement that uses a person’s photo, a product that carries their name, or a promotion that implies they endorse something they have never used. Being mentioned in a news article, a biography or a review is a different matter, and most statutes exclude it expressly.

It overlaps with privacy law. The Legal Information Institute describes the right of publicity as most similar to the privacy tort of appropriation of name or likeness in the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652C. When a use places someone in a misleading light rather than selling something with their identity, the related claim is false light; when it states false facts that harm their reputation, it may be defamation, covered in our guide to defamation laws by state and country.

Statutory vs. common law right of publicity

States protect the right in different ways: some through a statute, some through court-made common law, and some through both. The differences matter for who can sue, what counts as a protected attribute, the damages available and how long the right lasts after death.

Illinois is an example of a state that replaced the common law with a statute. Its Right of Publicity Act says its rights and remedies are meant to supplant those available under the common law as of its effective date, while leaving the common law right of privacy in place (765 ILCS 1075/60).

Key state right of publicity laws

California: Civil Code §§ 3344 and 3344.1

Section 3344 makes liable anyone who knowingly uses another person’s name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness on or in products, merchandise or goods, or for advertising, selling or soliciting purchases, without prior consent. The injured person can recover the greater of $750 or actual damages, plus profits from the unauthorized use, and punitive damages and attorney’s fees are available. A court can also issue an injunction or temporary restraining order, and a respondent ordered to take down or stop distributing the material must generally comply within two business days from the day the order is served. Use in connection with news, public affairs, sports broadcasts or accounts, or a political campaign does not require consent.

Section 3344.1 protects deceased personalities whose name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness has commercial value, for 70 years after death. A successor can register the claim with the California Secretary of State, and damages cannot be recovered for uses before registration. Since January 1, 2025, following AB 1836 (Chapter 258 of 2024), the section also covers producing, distributing or making available a digital replica of a deceased personality’s voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording without the required consent, with damages of at least $10,000. Exceptions include news, comment, criticism, satire, parody and fleeting or incidental uses, as well as documentary or biographical works unless the use is meant to create, and does create, the false impression of an authentic recording.

New York: Civil Rights Law §§ 50, 51 and 50-f

Using the name, portrait, picture, likeness or voice of any living person for advertising purposes or for the purposes of trade without their written consent is a misdemeanor (§ 50). The person can also sue to stop the use and recover damages, and if the defendant knowingly used their identity the jury may award exemplary damages (§ 51).

Section 50-f adds a post-mortem right for deceased personalities who were domiciled in New York at death. The law that created it applies to individuals who died on or after its effective date, the 180th day after it was signed on November 30, 2020 (S5959-D, Chapter 304 of 2020). Claims are barred for uses more than 40 years after death, successors must register before a claim arises, and damages are the greater of $2,000 or compensatory damages, plus profits. The section also covers digital replicas of deceased performers, and an amendment signed on December 11, 2025, which took effect immediately, extended that coverage to audiovisual works, sound recordings and live musical performances and broadened the definition of a digital replica (S8391, Chapter 616 of 2025).

For advertising made with AI, New York also added a disclosure duty. A business that creates an advertisement for a commercial purpose must conspicuously disclose a synthetic performer in it when it has actual knowledge of it. A synthetic performer is a digitally created performer, for example one made with generative AI, that is not recognizable as any identifiable real person. The law sets civil penalties of $1,000 for a first violation and $5,000 for later ones. It was signed on December 11, 2025 and took effect 180 days later (S8420-A, Chapter 617 of 2025, General Business Law § 396-b).

Tennessee: the ELVIS Act

Tennessee’s Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024 (HB 2091, Public Chapter 588) adds voice as a protected personal right in the state’s right of publicity law. The Tennessee General Assembly records the Governor’s signature on March 26, 2024 and an effective date of July 1, 2024.

Florida: Statute § 540.08

No one may publish, print, display or otherwise publicly use the name, portrait, photograph or other likeness of a natural person for purposes of trade or for any commercial or advertising purpose without that person’s express written or oral consent, or that of an authorized representative (Fla. Stat. § 540.08). Remedies include an injunction, damages including a reasonable royalty, and punitive damages. Bona fide news reports with a current and legitimate public interest are excluded, and no action can be brought for a use more than 40 years after the person’s death.

Illinois: Right of Publicity Act, 765 ILCS 1075

The Illinois Act recognizes each individual’s right to control and choose whether and how their identity is used for commercial purposes. Identity means any attribute that identifies the individual to an ordinary, reasonable viewer or listener, including name, signature, photograph, image, likeness and voice. Commercial use requires prior written consent and the right lasts 50 years after death. A violator is liable for actual damages and profits or $1,000, whichever is greater, punitive damages for willful violations, and the court may award attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.

Since January 1, 2025, the Act also covers digital replicas (Public Act 103-0836). A person may not knowingly distribute, transmit or make available to the public a sound recording or audiovisual work with actual knowledge that it contains an unauthorized digital replica, and those who knowingly facilitate it can be liable. Services that only transmit, store or provide access to material at a user’s direction are shielded from that facilitation liability if, for example, they lack actual knowledge that it is unauthorized, or act expeditiously to remove or disable access once they gain that knowledge or receive written notice.

No federal right of publicity, but the Lanham Act can apply

There is no general federal right of publicity statute. The closest federal tool is the false endorsement claim under the Lanham Act, which applies when someone, in connection with goods or services, uses a name, symbol or misleading representation in commerce in a way that is likely to cause confusion or deceive as to the affiliation, connection or association of one person with another, or as to the origin, sponsorship or approval of their goods, services or commercial activities by another person (15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A)). An ad suggesting that a well-known executive or brand endorses a product it has nothing to do with is the kind of situation this provision addresses.

News, art and the First Amendment

Right of publicity laws are built around exceptions for speech. California’s § 3344 excludes news, public affairs, sports and political campaigns. Illinois excludes uses in live performances, works of fine art, plays, books, articles, musical works, films and broadcasts, as long as the work is not itself an advertisement, along with news, public affairs, sports and political campaigns. Florida excludes bona fide news reports, and New York’s § 50-f excludes newsworthy, educational and political works, including parody and satire.

The First Amendment does not protect every use by the media, though. In Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co., 433 U.S. 562 (1977), a television station broadcast a performer’s entire 15-second “human cannonball” act on the evening news without his consent. The Supreme Court held that the First and Fourteenth Amendments do not immunize the media when they broadcast a performer’s entire act without consent.

AI voice clones, fake endorsements and scam ads

The fastest-growing problem for executives and brands is not a celebrity endorsement dispute. It is a scam ad that uses a chief executive’s face, or a cloned voice, to promote a fake investment, a giveaway or a product the company does not sell. Several legal tools can apply:

State right of publicity laws. The statutes above cover commercial use of a name, likeness or voice without consent, and several now address digital replicas directly.
False endorsement. A fake testimonial or endorsement can support a Lanham Act claim, as explained above.
The FTC impersonation rule. Since April 1, 2024, the FTC’s rule on government and business impersonation lets the agency bring federal court cases to get money back for consumers and seek civil penalties against scammers who pose as government agencies or businesses (FTC). When that rule took effect, a separate proposal to extend it to the impersonation of individuals was still open for comment.
Advertising disclosure. In New York, advertisers with actual knowledge must disclose synthetic performers in their ads, as described above. That rule covers AI performers that do not depict a real, identifiable person; an ad that clones a real executive raises right of publicity and false endorsement claims instead.

In practice, scam advertisers are often hard to identify and outside the reach of a lawsuit, which is why the platform’s own policies are usually the quickest route.

How to get fake endorsements and likeness ads removed

Capture the evidence. Save screenshots or recordings of the ad, the advertiser’s name or page, the landing page URL and the date you saw it.
Report the ad on Google. Google’s Misrepresentation policy prohibits enticing users to part with money or information by impersonating or falsely implying affiliation with or endorsement by a public figure, brand or organization. Google says it treats violations as egregious and suspends the advertiser’s accounts upon detection (Google Ads policy update).
Report it on Facebook and Instagram. Meta asks users to report content, including ads, through the report link near the content itself (Facebook Help Center). Profiles and Pages pretending to be you or your company can be reported as impersonation, even by someone without a Facebook account (Facebook Help Center).
Use YouTube’s privacy process for AI likeness. YouTube’s privacy guidelines allow complaints about content that looks or sounds like you but was significantly edited or generated by AI. Factors include whether the person can be uniquely identified, how realistic it is, and whether it shows a public figure endorsing a product or political candidate. Our guide to the YouTube privacy complaint form walks through the form.
Use copyright where it applies. If the ad copies your own photos or video, a DMCA takedown notice may be available.
Report the fraud. Scams that impersonate a business can be reported to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Escalate with counsel. An attorney can send demands under the state statutes above or seek a court order, which helps when a platform declines to act.

How Media Removal can help

Media Removal is not a law firm and does not give legal advice or file lawsuits. We work for companies, executives, family offices and public figures on the content itself, alongside their attorneys.

Finding the uses. We identify where an executive’s or brand’s name, image or voice is being used in ads, profiles, videos and pages without consent.
Removal requests. We file reports through each platform’s official impersonation, privacy, advertising and intellectual property channels, and use court orders your attorney obtains. The platform or the court makes the final decision, so we do not promise any particular outcome.
Search results. When content cannot be removed, our executive reputation management work builds accurate, authoritative results for the name.

For content removal, you are billed only when the URL is verified offline. Every client signs an NDA, and so do we. To discuss a case, request a quote or see our content removal services.

Frequently asked questions

What does the right of publicity protect?

It protects a person’s ability to control commercial use of their identity, such as their name, image, likeness and, in many states, voice. It is mainly about advertising, products and endorsements, not news coverage. In the US it comes from state statutes and common law, so the rules differ from state to state.

Is there a federal right of publicity law?

No. The right of publicity is state law. At the federal level, the closest claim is false endorsement under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A), which applies when a use of someone’s identity in commerce is likely to confuse people about whether that person sponsors or approves a product or service.

How long does the right of publicity last after death?

It depends on the state. California protects deceased personalities for 70 years after death under Civil Code § 3344.1, Illinois for 50 years, and New York and Florida for 40 years. New York’s post-mortem right covers people domiciled in the state who died on or after its 2021 effective date.

Is it illegal to use an AI clone of someone’s voice in an ad?

In many states it can be. California’s § 3344 already covers knowing use of a person’s voice in advertising without consent, Tennessee’s ELVIS Act added voice as a protected right in 2024, and Illinois added digital replica rules in 2025. A fake endorsement can also support a federal Lanham Act claim. The answer depends on the state and the facts.

What is the difference between the right of publicity and the right of privacy?

The right of publicity concerns the commercial value of an identity and stops others from using it to sell things without consent. Privacy claims protect against other intrusions, such as disclosure of private facts or portrayal in a false light. Legal sources describe the right of publicity as closest to the privacy tort of appropriation of name or likeness.

How can a company remove a scam ad that uses its CEO’s face?

Save evidence, then report the ad on the platform where it runs. Google’s Misrepresentation policy bans ads that impersonate or imply endorsement by a public figure or brand, and Meta and YouTube have impersonation and AI likeness reporting routes. Report the scam to the FTC as well. An attorney can add state right of publicity or Lanham Act demands.

Sources

Need harmful content taken down?

Tell us where it lives. We review each case and recommend the fastest route that fits it.

Get a quote Content removal services