New York S8391 (Relates to the right of publicity)

• Authority: New York
• Parent authority: State governments
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. state and local documents
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2025-12-11

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
• Economic and cultural devaluation of human effort

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document primarily addresses risks related to fraud/manipulation (4.3) and economic/cultural devaluation of human effort (6.3). It establishes comprehensive governance measures to prevent unauthorized use of deceased personalities' digital replicas that could constitute fraud or undermine the commercial value of human creative work.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Information
• Arts, Entertainment & Recreation

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Professional & Technical Services
• Educational Services
• Accommodation, Food & Other Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

The document primarily governs the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation sector and the Information sector, with comprehensive coverage of digital replica use in audiovisual works, sound recordings, live performances, broadcasting, and streaming services. It also has minimal coverage of other sectors where advertising and commercial use of deceased personalities' likenesses may occur.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative amendment to New York civil rights law with mandatory obligations, enforceable civil liability, specific monetary penalties, and court-based enforcement mechanisms.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: This is a legislative bill (S8391) proposed by the New York State Legislature to amend the civil rights law.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Deployer
• Summary: The law targets any person who creates or uses digital replicas of deceased performers and personalities in commercial contexts, audiovisual works, or live performances without authorization.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, Affected_Stakeholder
• Summary: Enforcement occurs through civil litigation initiated by rights holders who can seek damages and injunctive relief through the court system.

Monitor

• Entity Types: Affected_Stakeholder, AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The law establishes a notice-based monitoring system where rights holders can notify service providers of unauthorized uses, who must then remove the content.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Build and Use Model
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily focuses on the Deploy and Operate/Monitor stages of the AI lifecycle. It regulates the deployment and ongoing use of digital replicas in commercial contexts, audiovisual works, and live performances, with provisions for notice-based monitoring by service providers and rights holders.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document specifically addresses digital replicas (AI-generated representations of individuals) without explicitly mentioning AI systems, models, or technical categories like generative AI or foundation models. The focus is on the output and use cases rather than technical AI system characteristics.