The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously by voice on June 18 to advance the NO FAKES Act (S.4591) to the Senate floor, sending forward a bill that would convert a person’s voice and likeness into a federal property right, the first piece of substantive AI legislation in the 119th Congress with a credible path to passage.

The Coons-Blackburn vehicle carries 15 cosponsors (seven Democrats, eight Republicans) and an unusually wide tent of outside support. OpenAI, YouTube, and TikTok have endorsed it. So has SAG-AFTRA, whose open letter has gathered more than 16,000 signatures. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) cited a 30-organization coalition and a 92% consumer concern figure on deepfake authenticity during the markup.

The substance is aggressive. The bill creates a near-exclusive right to one’s digital AI replica, inheritable for at least 70 years after death. License terms are capped at 10 years for adults and 5 for minors. Platforms face penalties of up to $750,000 per unauthorized embodiment if they fail a good-faith takedown effort.

That last number is what’s drawing the opposition. The ACLU, EFF, CDT, and R-Street Institute urged the committee to vote no, warning the takedown structure creates a “Heckler’s veto” that incentivizes platforms to over-remove lawful content. Republican yes-votes from Sens. Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Eric Schmitt came with explicit conditions: First Amendment fixes before any floor vote. Sen. Alex Padilla flagged streaming, gaming, and UGC-platform obligations as needing tailoring.

Coons countered that carve-outs already protect parody, satire, documentaries, biopics, newscasts, research libraries, and archives. A manager’s amendment, adopted without objection, limits liability for coincidental resemblances to non-famous people.

The endgame is now legislative bundling. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is negotiating with the White House to fold NO FAKES into a broader AI preemption package alongside KOSA and age verification. The committee resolved nothing about the First Amendment; it resolved that the First Amendment fight happens on the floor.

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