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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky HB 318 establishes property rights for name, image, and likeness and sets penalties for unauthorized digital replicas
Last action · January 20, 2026: to Judiciary (H)Sponsor: Daniel Grossberg
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What This Bill Proposed
Kentucky House Bill 318 creates explicit, transferable property rights for an individual's name, voice, and likeness that survive death, and establishes statutory damages of up to $50,000 per violation for unauthorized computer-generated replicas. The measure prohibits publishing or facilitating the distribution of unauthorized digital voice or image replicas and provides exemptions for news reporting, parody, and s.
Residents and estate holders gain statutory standing to sue for commercial misuse of digital replicas, with mandatory minimum damages of $50,000 for direct publishers and $5,000 for facilitators, plus the recovery of gross revenues and attorney fees.
- House Bill 318 was introduced in the Kentucky General Assembly during the 2026 regular session and assigned to the Judiciary committee. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Individuals and Estates
Individuals and their estates receive enforceable, transferable property rights in their name, voice, and likeness, along with the right to sue for statutory damages.
Publishers and Digital Content Creators
Publishers face statutory liability of up to $50,000 per violation and forfeiture of profits for distributing unauthorized computer-generated replicas of individuals.
News Organizations and Interactive Computer Services
News-gathering organizations, public broadcasters, and interactive computer services are explicitly exempted from violations when operating within protected categories.
Key Facts
- Establishes that every individual has exclusive property rights in their name, voice, and likeness during their lifetime, which are transferable and descendible.
- Post-mortem rights last for 10 years after death unless continued in commercial use by heirs or if all holders are deceased.
- Post-mortem rights apply whether or not the individual commercially benefited from their rights during their lifetime.
- Directly publishes or transmits an unauthorized computer-generated voice replica or image carries liability of $50,000 per violation or actual damages plus profits, whichever is greater.
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- Materially contributing to or facilitating an unauthorized computer-generated replica carries liability of $5,000 per violation or actual damages plus profits, whichever is greater.
- Injured parties must prove gross revenue attributable to unauthorized use, while violators must prove deductible expenses.
- Punitive damages and reasonable attorney's fees may be awarded to the injured party.
- Displaying a disclaimer stating that a replica is unauthorized or computer-generated is explicitly not a defense against a violation.
- Exempts uses by news-gathering organizations, news reporting, public affairs, sports broadcasts, public comment, criticism, scholarship, satire, parody, and interactive computer services under 47 U.S.C. sec. 230.
- Civil actions must commence within four years after the injured party discovers or should have reasonably discovered the violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is considered a computer-generated image under this bill?
Does the property right expire when a person dies?
Can a disclaimer protect someone from liability if they use an unauthorized digital replica?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Jan 20, 2026HouseCommitteeto Judiciary (H)
- Jan 12, 2026HouseIntroducedintroduced in House to Committee on Committees (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Creation of Statutory AI Likeness Rights
The bill establishes distinct statutory liability tiers for direct publishers versus facilitators of unauthorized computer-generated replicas.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment20Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz65Current news / social attention level
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