Subcommittee approves substitute on unauthorized digital replicas, adds carve-out for online intermediaries

A House Civil Courts subcommittee unanimously reported a substitute aimed at limiting unauthorized digital replicas of a person’s voice, image, likeness or performance and expanding civil protections for victims.

Sponsor Delegate Glass said the substitute narrows and tiers postmortem protections and preserves First Amendment exceptions for news, public affairs and creative uses. The substitute also adds a carve-out protecting online access providers from liability when they merely transmit, store or provide access to user-created content and are not responsible for creating the unauthorized digital replica. Industry representatives, including Google and the Motion Picture Association, told the committee they had negotiated language with the sponsor.

The substitute establishes a tiered statute-of-limitation and postmortem protection window (the substitute includes a principal 20-year protection with an additional tier up to 30 years for certain commercial protections), and retains specific exceptions for bona fide news and public-affairs uses. Members asked about the length of the statutory window and how the bill would apply to ordinary citizens as well as public figures. The substitute was reported 8–0; the patron said he would continue stakeholder work prior to full committee consideration.