Do you support this bill?

Senate Bill S10493

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Relates to expanding the right of publicity

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

2025-S10493 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A7295
Current Committee:
Senate Codes
Law Section:
Civil Rights Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §50-f, Civ Rts L; amd §3, Chap 304 of 2020

2025-S10493 (ACTIVE) - Summary

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.

2025-S10493 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10493
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               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:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 50-f of  the  civil
 rights  law,  as added by chapter 304 of the laws of 2020, is amended to
 read as follows:
   a. Any person who uses a deceased personality's  name,  voice,  signa-
 ture, photograph, [or] likeness, OR A SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR IMITATION OF
 ONE  OR  MORE  OF  THOSE  ATTRIBUTES,  in any manner, on or in products,
 merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of  advertising  or  selling,  or
 soliciting  purchases  of,  products,  merchandise,  goods, or services,
 without prior consent from the person or persons specified  in  subdivi-
 sion  four of this section, shall be liable for any damages sustained by
 the person or persons injured as a result thereof.
   § 2. Subdivision 8 of section 50-f of the civil rights law,  as  added
 by chapter 304 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   8.  An action shall not be brought under this section by reason of any
 use of a deceased personality's name, voice, signature,  photograph,  or
 likeness  occurring  after the expiration of [forty] SEVENTY years after
 the death of the deceased personality.
   § 3. Section 3 of 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 publi-
 cation of a sexually explicit depiction of an individual, is amended  to
 read as follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10953-03-6

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.