IP / Creative · HB 4762
Digital Voice & Likeness Protection
Digital Voice and Likeness Protection Act
- Public Act
- PA 103-0830
- Effective
- August 9, 2024
- Enforced by
- Contractual enforceability in court
- Verified
For personal or professional service agreements entered after August 9, 2024, limits enforcement of certain digital-replica provisions as to new performances fixed from January 1, 2026 when all three statutory defects coincide.
HB 4762 regulates the paperwork of synthetic performance rather than the technology itself. It applies to personal or professional service agreements entered after August 9, 2024. Its enforceability limit turns on three conditions operating together: the replica replaces new in-person work, the agreement lacks a reasonably specific description of intended uses, and the individual lacked qualifying counsel or union representation. PA 104-0282 refines the rule for new replica performances fixed from January 1, 2026. Its consistent-use exception requires the use to match both the contract and the fundamental character of the recorded performance; other contract provisions and exclusivity grants remain preserved.
It is the narrower of Illinois’ two 2024 likeness statutes. Where the Right of Publicity amendment (HB 4875) reaches commercial use by anyone, HB 4762 reaches the personal or professional service agreement between a performer and the entity that would replicate them. Read the two together: one governs contract enforceability, while the other governs specified distribution and use.
The October 24, 2026 verification for this entry is limited to the focused agreement-scope, conjunctive test, amendment and remedy correction. Complete direct archival of the combined current §§10 and 15 remains pending.
What it requires
- Assess all three statutory conditions together; the Act does not independently require both a use description and representation in every covered agreement.
- The conjunctive test asks whether the replica substitutes for new in-person work, the agreement lacks a reasonably specific intended-use description, and the individual lacked qualifying representation.
- Qualifying representation means counsel negotiated the digital-replica rights and the licensing terms are in writing, or a labor union represented the individual under a collective-bargaining agreement that expressly covers digital-replica uses.
- For new replica performances fixed from January 1, 2026, apply the statutory consistent-use exception and preservation of other provisions and exclusivity grants.
Who is covered
Producers, studios, agencies, and platforms in Illinois that contract for the use of a person's voice or likeness — and the performers and creators those contracts bind.
What the exposure is
Certain replica provisions unenforceable
Limited contractual unenforceability; this Act does not specify a damages action or damages schedule.
Key dates
- August 9, 2024 Signed as PA 103-0830 — effective immediately
- January 1, 2026 PA 104-0282 amendment applies to new replica performances fixed from this date
If this applies to you
- As a risk-reduction practice, review post-August 9, 2024 personal and professional service agreements for digital-replica provisions that replace new in-person work.
- As a risk-reduction practice, describe intended replica uses with reasonable specificity.
- Document either counsel's negotiation of replica rights in written licensing terms or labor-union representation under a collective-bargaining agreement that expressly covers digital-replica uses.
- For performances fixed from January 1, 2026, check whether asserted consistent uses match both the contract and the fundamental character of the recorded performance.
Primary sources 3
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