# Plain Language Summary: NO FAKES Act of 2024

This bill creates a new legal right that protects people's voices and faces from being copied and used without permission in AI-generated content. Specifically, it makes it illegal for anyone to create a realistic computer-generated version of someone's voice or appearance (called a "digital replica") without getting permission first, or to share such deepfakes online. The law applies to anyone creating or distributing these fake videos, audio recordings, or images—whether they're doing it for entertainment, commercial purposes, or anything else.

The protection works like this: if you're a living person, you have the exclusive right to decide who can use your voice or likeness in digital replicas, and any permission you give can only last up to 10 years. If you're a minor, licenses are even shorter—just 5 years or until you turn 18, whichever comes first. After you die, your family or estate can continue controlling your digital likeness for at least 10 years, and potentially much longer if they keep actively using it. The right eventually expires 70 years after your death. Anyone who violates these rules can be sued for damages.

However, the law includes important exceptions for legitimate uses. News reports, documentaries, historical accounts, satire, parody, and commentary can still use digital replicas without permission as long as they're not creating a false impression that you actually performed in something. The same goes for brief or minor uses. The law specifically does not protect deepfakes depicting sexual content—those remain prohibited regardless of these exceptions.

The bill also protects companies that make general-purpose AI tools or software. They won't be held responsible for what users create with their products unless the tool was specifically designed to make unauthorized deepfakes, has no real purpose other than creating fakes, or is being marketed specifically for making unauthorized copies of people.