LO
ConstraintCognitive automation2024-09-17
Using a deceased performer's digital replica in an audiovisual work without consent carries liability of at least $10,000 in California
Actor and modeloccupation page →
Event date / reported
2024-09-17
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Likeness rights and consent
Controlling how one's face, body and performance are copied and used.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
California. The law makes a person who produces, distributes or makes available the digital replica of a deceased personality's voice or likeness in an expressive audiovisual work or sound recording without prior consent liable for the greater of $10,000 or the actual damages, with exceptions such as news and sports broadcasts. It protects the likeness of the dead; it does not govern living performers' work.
What this means
A performer's likeness does not fall into free use at death — reviving someone digitally requires the estate's consent.
What it does not yet show
One state's law about deceased personalities; it says nothing about living performers' employment.
What you can check
Open California AB 1836 (Chapter 258) and find "the greater of ten thousand dollars ($10,000)".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. Nor did this record change a layer: all 1 linked judgement above already rested on earlier evidence. This one adds to them.
Source
California Legislature — AB 1836 (2023–2024), Chapter 258, amending Civil Code section 3344.1 (approved by Governor September 17, 2024) · verified 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.