Sometimes, but there is no single AI voice cloning law in the United States that settles it. Cloning your voice or face with AI and using it without permission can be illegal under state right-of-publicity laws, a handful of newer AI-specific state statutes, fraud and impersonation rules, and, for sexual deepfakes, a federal law enacted in 2025. A broad federal “digital replica” right that would cover every case is still only a bill, the NO FAKES Act of 2026, which a Senate committee has approved but neither chamber has passed.

So the useful answer depends on what was done with your voice or likeness, where, and why. This post sorts the situations, explains the rules that exist today, and shows where the gaps are. It covers United States law.

Which rule applies to which situation

Situation Main legal hook today
A cloned voice or face is used in an ad or product without permission State right of publicity, such as California Civil Code section 3344, which lists a person’s voice
An AI voice clone of a musician is released as a song Tennessee’s ELVIS Act, for Tennessee; other states vary
Realistic AI-generated intimate images of a real person are posted The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, plus state laws
A synthetic performer appears in an ad in New York New York’s synthetic performer disclosure law
An AI voice is used in a robocall The FCC’s ruling treating AI voices as “artificial” under the TCPA
Someone clones a voice to scam a relative Fraud and impersonation law
A satirical or news use of a public figure’s voice Often protected speech, depending on facts

The baseline: state right of publicity

The United States has no general federal right to control your name, image or voice. What exists is a patchwork of state laws, some by statute and some by court decision. They differ on who is covered, whether commercial use is required, and how long protection lasts after death.

California’s statute covers unauthorized commercial use of a person’s name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness. Post-death protection runs 70 years in California, 100 years in Indiana and Oklahoma, and for as long as use continues in Tennessee, while New York, as one federal ruling read its law, has not protected a deceased celebrity’s publicity right. If you live in a state with a thin statute and the use is not commercial, you may have few options under that body of law.

The US Copyright Office examined the gap in its July 2024 report on digital replicas. It concluded that the speed and scale of AI replicas call for a nationwide remedy, and described the state patchwork as inconsistent: some states offer little, many require commercial value, and voice protection varies. It also found that federal trademark law, which offers a false endorsement claim, requires commercial use and likely consumer confusion, which is hard for many people to show. Federal Trade Commission authority helps against deceptive uses but was not designed for replicas.

Tennessee’s ELVIS Act and other state AI laws

Tennessee moved first on voice. Its Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security Act, signed March 21, 2024, extends the state’s existing protections to cover a performer’s voice and targets unauthorized AI voice cloning. It passed with no opposing votes, 93-0 in the House and 30-0 in the Senate, backed by a music-industry coalition led by the Recording Academy and the RIAA. The Motion Picture Association raised concerns about portraying real people. Enforcement can include a misdemeanor charge.

New York’s approach is disclosure. Senate bill S8420A, signed December 11, 2025 as Chapter 617, requires advertisers who know a synthetic performer appears in a commercial ad to disclose it conspicuously, with civil penalties of $1,000 for a first violation and $5,000 for later ones. The law takes effect 180 days after signing, which puts it in roughly June 2026. It exempts audio-only ads, promotional material for expressive works such as films and video games when consistent with the work, and AI used only to translate a human performer’s language.

These laws are narrower than the headlines suggest. They protect specific classes of people or settings, and each has exceptions. I did not find a court ruling applying the ELVIS Act to a cloned voice, and I could not verify the status of other states’ laws that were not on the pages I read.

Sexual deepfakes: a federal law now exists

The TAKE IT DOWN Act, Public Law 119-12, was approved May 19, 2025. It makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish through an interactive computer service authentic intimate images shared to cause harm, and also “digital forgeries,” meaning realistic AI-generated or altered intimate images of identifiable people, under defined conditions. The penalties reach up to two years in prison where an adult is the victim and up to three years for minors, with shorter maximums for threats.

The Act also puts a duty on platforms. Covered services had to set up a process within one year of enactment, so by about May 19, 2026, letting victims request removal, and must take down reported content within 48 hours of a valid request and make reasonable efforts to remove identical copies. The Federal Trade Commission enforces that duty, treating a failure to comply reasonably as an unfair or deceptive practice. If this has happened to you, contact the platform using its removal process and consider a lawyer or a victim-support organization.

Voice scams and robocalls

In a declaratory ruling, the Federal Communications Commission found that calls made with AI-generated voices count as “artificial” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which governs robocalls. The practical effect is that using a cloned voice in an unwanted robocall is covered by the same rules as other prerecorded calls. The ruling page I read gave no release date, so this post does not date it.

The Federal Trade Commission’s impersonation rule took effect on April 1, 2024, covering impersonation of government agencies and businesses. The agency also proposed extending it to impersonation of individuals and to those who supply scammers with the means to do it; I could not confirm whether that extension was finalized. A cloned voice used to trick someone into sending money is fraud under longstanding laws whether or not any AI statute exists.

The federal bill: the NO FAKES Act of 2026

The “Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2026” was introduced on May 20, 2026 as S. 4591 in the Senate and H.R. 8915 in the House. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved an amended version on June 18, 2026, it was reported on June 24, and it was placed on the Senate calendar on July 2. As of the sources I read, neither chamber has passed it.

If enacted, it would create a federal digital replication right. The right would apply to voice and visual likeness in highly realistic computer-generated replicas that are readily identifiable as a person. It could not be assigned during life, though it could be licensed. The text I read caps lifetime licenses at 10 years, or 5 years for minors with court approval, and requires licenses to be written, signed and specific. The right would survive death, exclusive for 10 years and extendable in five-year periods on showing authorized use, ending no later than 70 years after death.

It would also reach people who make replicas available without authorization and those who distribute products primarily designed to produce them. Online services could earn safe harbor through a notice-and-takedown system modeled partly on copyright’s. The bill includes exceptions for news, documentary and biographical works, commentary, satire and parody, and fleeting use, but excludes sexually explicit depictions from those exceptions. Damages in the text range from $5,000 to $750,000 per work depending on the defendant. The bill would preempt state claims over replicas in expressive works while preserving state laws in force as of January 2, 2025, and state laws on sexually explicit or election-related replicas.

Two cautions apply. A bill that has cleared committee has not become law, and amendments continue. And I read the Senate-reported text as published on govinfo; details could change before any vote.

What you can do now

  1. Save evidence. Capture the content, the URL, dates and the account that posted it before it disappears.
  2. Use platform tools first. For intimate images, the TAKE IT DOWN Act’s 48-hour process is the strongest lever. Most large platforms also have impersonation and synthetic-media reporting channels.
  3. Check your state. Whether you have a publicity claim depends on where you live and whether the use was commercial.
  4. Read what you sign. Contracts for voice work increasingly address digital replicas. Know whether you are licensing a replica, for how long, and for which uses.
  5. Report scams. A cloned-voice fraud call belongs with your bank, the police and the FTC.

Related questions

Is it legal to clone my own voice? Yes in general. Consent from the person whose voice it is removes most of these legal issues, though platform rules and contracts may still apply.

Can a famous person’s voice be used in a parody? Often yes, because satire and commentary receive speech protection, and the pending federal bill lists parody as an exception. Use in an ad that suggests an endorsement is a different matter.

Does copyright protect my voice? Not as such. The Copyright Office’s report treats voice protection as largely a matter of state law and recommended a new federal right to fill the gap.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources