United States of America: Act establishing property rights over name, voice, and visual likeness and penalties for unauthorised digital replication (HB 513) enters into force

On 1 January 2026, the Act establishing property rights over name, voice, and visual likeness and penalties for unauthorised digital replication (HB 513) enters into force in Montana. The Act applies to Montana residents and individuals domiciled in the state at the time of death. It introduces liability for distributing or publishing tools or technologies with actual knowledge that they are intended to produce unauthorised digital voice or visual depictions for commercial use. These depictions are defined as computer-generated renderings that closely resemble an individual’s real voice or appearance. The rights are licensable, transferable, and descendible for 20 years after death. Civil liability includes actual damages and attributable profits, with claimants required to demonstrate only gross revenue from the unauthorised use. The Act exempts broadband internet access service providers and uses protected under the United States Constitution, including news reporting, commentary, criticism, satire, parody, scholarship, and uses that are fleeting or negligible.