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Bill

S 10493

Relates to expanding the right of publicity

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Erik Bottcher

Extends NY publicity rights for deceased personalities from 40 to 70 years post-death and allows legal action for unauthorized commercial use.

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Bill Summary · S 10493

Summary of Bill S. 10493 (2025-2026) – New York

Purpose and intent

  • Expands the scope of the New York right of publicity to deceased personalities by extending the duration of protection from 40 years to 70 years after death.
  • Clarifies and updates the civil rights law provisions governing the use of a deceased personality’s name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, or substantially similar imitation for commercial purposes.
  • Keeps existing provisions related to dissemination or publication of sexually explicit depictions (as added by Chapter 304 of 2020) intact while updating the timing for when publicity protections apply.

Key provisions and changes

1) Expansion of duration of protection
- Amends Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 50-f of the civil rights law to include:
- Protection applies to the use of a deceased personality’s name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, or a substantially similar imitation in advertising, selling, or soliciting purchases of products or services.
- Damages can be recovered by the person or persons injured when such use occurs without prior consent from the indicated deceased personality (or their estate/representative).

2) Extended statute of limitations for publicity use
- Amends subdivision 8 of section 50-f to state that an action cannot be brought under this section for uses occurring after seventy years post-death (instead of the prior forty-year period).

3) Effective date and applicability
- Section 3 provides:
- The act takes effect on the 180th day after it becomes law.
- The extended 70-year publicity protection applies to all living individuals and to deceased individuals who died on or after the date of the act’s effective date, as well as those who died before and after that date.
- Section 4 states immediate effect of the act (note: the law’s operative sections specify the 180-day timing for the broader changes).

Who is affected

  • Living individuals and their estates or legal representatives who have or may have rights to publicity in deceased personalities.
  • Uses of a deceased personality’s name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, or close imitations in commercial contexts (advertising, product labeling, marketing, etc.) without proper consent.
  • Potential claimants include heirs, estates, or lawful successors responsible for enforcing publicity rights.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Enactment and effective dates:
    • Immediate effect for certain provisions.
    • The general provisions take effect 180 days after the law’s enactment.
  • Scope timing:
    • Applies to living individuals and to deceased individuals who died both before and after the effective date, with the extended 70-year duration applying accordingly.
  • Private right of action remains the mechanism for enforcement (as established by prior Chapter 304 provisions), with damages available for unauthorized uses.

Practical impact

  • Strengthened protection for the posthumous commercial use of a person’s recognizable attributes, aligning with longer-than-previous protection periods.
  • Increased potential legal exposure for companies and marketers that use a deceased personality’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness without consent.
  • Potentially broader claims window for many deceased personalities, depending on their date of death relative to the act’s effective date.

If you’d like, I can provide a plain-language example of how this would work in a hypothetical advertising scenario or compare it to the current federal standards on publicity rights.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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