Expands the right of publicity to seventy years following the death of a deceased personality; makes the provisions of such section granting a right of publicity applicable to all deceased persons until the end of such 70 year period.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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10493
IN SENATE
May 15, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. BOTTCHER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to expanding the right
of publicity to seventy years after the death of the deceased person-
ality; and to amend chapter 304 of the laws of 2020 amending the civil
rights law relating to establishing the right of publicity and to
providing a private right of action for unlawful dissemination or
publication of a sexually explicit depiction of an individual, in
relation to the application thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 50-f of the civil
2 rights law, as added by chapter 304 of the laws of 2020, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 a. Any person who uses a deceased personality's name, voice, signa-
5 ture, photograph, [or] likeness, or a substantially similar imitation of
6 one or more of those attributes, in any manner, on or in products,
7 merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or
8 soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods, or services,
9 without prior consent from the person or persons specified in subdivi-
10 sion four of this section, shall be liable for any damages sustained by
11 the person or persons injured as a result thereof.
12 § 2. Subdivision 8 of section 50-f of the civil rights law, as added
13 by chapter 304 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
14 8. An action shall not be brought under this section by reason of any
15 use of a deceased personality's name, voice, signature, photograph, or
16 likeness occurring after the expiration of [forty] seventy years after
17 the death of the deceased personality.
18 § 3. Section 3 of chapter 304 of the laws of 2020, amending the civil
19 rights law relating to establishing the right of publicity and to
20 providing a private right of action for unlawful dissemination or publi-
21 cation of a sexually explicit depiction of an individual, is amended to
22 read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10953-03-6
S. 10493 2
1 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
2 it shall have become a law[, and]; provided that the provisions of
3 section 50-f of the civil rights law as amended by section one of this
4 act shall apply to all living individuals and to any deceased individ-
5 uals who died [on or after] prior to and after such date.
6 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
