As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 185
2025-2026
Representatives Mathews, A., Mathews, T.
To amend sections 2741.01, 2741.02, 2741.05,
2741.06, 2741.09, and 2905.11 and to enact
sections 2742.01, 2742.02, 2742.03, and 2742.04
of the Revised Code to make changes to the law
relating to the unauthorized use of an
individual's persona and to prohibit certain
unauthorized deepfake recordings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2741.01, 2741.02, 2741.05,
2741.06, 2741.09, and 2905.11 be amended and sections 2742.01,
2742.02, 2742.03, and 2742.04 of the Revised Code be enacted to
read as follows:
Sec. 2741.01. As used in this chapter:
(A) "Persona" means an individual's name, voice,
signature, photograph, image, likeness, or distinctive
appearance, if any of these aspects have commercial value .
(B) "Commercial purpose" means the use of or reference to
an aspect of an individual's persona in any of the following
manners:
(1) On or in connection with a place, product,
merchandise, goods, services, or other commercial activities not
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expressly exempted under this chapter;
(2) For advertising or soliciting the purchase of
products, merchandise, goods, services, or other commercial
activities not expressly exempted under this chapter;
(3) For the purpose of promoting travel to a place;
(4) For the purpose of fundraising.
(C) "Name" means the actual, assumed, or clearly
identifiable name of or reference to a living or deceased
individual that identifies the individual.
(D) "Right of publicity" means the property right in an
individual's persona to use the individual's persona for a
commercial purpose.
(E) "Trier of fact" means the jury or, in a nonjury
action, the court.
(F) "Written consent" includes written, electronic,
digital, or any other verifiable means of authorization.
(G) "Institution of higher education" means a state
institution of higher education as defined in section 3345.011
of the Revised Code, a private nonprofit college or university
located in this state that possesses a certificate of
authorization issued by the Ohio board of regents pursuant to
Chapter 1713. of the Revised Code, or a school located in this
state that possesses a certificate of registration and one or
more program authorizations issued by the state board of career
colleges and schools under Chapter 3332. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 2741.02. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this
section, a person shall not use any aspect of an individual's
persona for a commercial purpose or a modified facsimile of an
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individual's persona wherein a reasonable trier of fact would
confuse the modified facsimile and the individual :
(1) During the individual's lifetime;
(2) For a period of sixty years after the date of the
individual's death; or
(3) For a period of ten years after the date of death of a
deceased member of the Ohio national guard or the armed forces
of the United States.
(B) A person may use an individual's persona for a
commercial purpose during the individual's lifetime if the
person first obtains the written consent to use the individual's
persona from a person specified in section 2741.05 of the
Revised Code. If an individual whose persona is at issue has
died, a person may use the individual's persona for a commercial
purpose if either of the following applies:
(1) The person first obtains the written consent to use
the individual's persona from a person specified in section
2741.05 of the Revised Code who owns the individual's right of
publicity.
(2) The name of the individual whose persona is used was
the name of a business entity or a trade name at the time of the
individual's death.
(C) Subject to the terms of any agreement between a person
specified in section 2741.05 of the Revised Code and a person to
whom that person grants consent to use an individual's right of
publicity, a consent obtained before the death of an individual
whose persona is at issue remains valid after the individual's
death.
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(D) For purposes of this section:
(1) A use of an aspect of an individual's persona in
connection with any news, public affairs, sports broadcast, or
account does not constitute a use for which consent is required
under division (A) of this section.
(2) A use of an aspect of an individual's persona in
connection with any political campaign and in compliance with
Title XXXV of the Revised Code does not constitute a use for
which consent is required under division (A) of this section.
(E) The owners or employees of any medium used for
advertising, including but not limited to, a newspaper,
magazine, radio or television network or station, cable
television system, billboard, transit ad, and global
communications network, by whom any advertisement or
solicitation in violation of this section is published or
disseminated are not liable under this section or section
2741.07 of the Revised Code unless it is established that those
owners or employees had knowledge of the unauthorized use of the
persona as prohibited by this section.
Sec. 2741.05. (A) Except as otherwise expressly provided
in an agreement transferring an aspect of an individual's right
of publicity, only the following persons may grant consent to
use an individual's persona for a commercial purpose :
(1) A person or persons, including the individual whose
right of publicity is at issue, who collectively own more than
fifty per cent of the individual's right of publicity, subject
to the terms of any other licenses regarding that right of
publicity;
(2) A person, including a licensee of the individual's
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right of publicity, who is expressly authorized in writing to
grant consent by a person or persons specified in division (A)
(1) of this section.
(B) A person or persons specified in division (A) of this
section may do one or both of the following:
(1) Grant a person or persons consent to use all or part
of an individual's right of publicity for a commercial purpose;
(2) Limit, restrict, or place conditions on how a person
or persons to whom consent is granted pursuant to this section
may use an individual's right of publicity.
Sec. 2741.06. (A) The following persons may bring a civil
action to enforce the rights set forth in this chapter:
(1) A person or persons, including an individual whose
right of publicity is at issue, who collectively own all of an
individual's right of publicity, subject to any licenses
regarding that right of publicity;
(2) A person, including a licensee of an individual's
right of publicity, who is expressly authorized in writing by
the owner or owners of an individual's right of publicity to
bring a civil action;
(3) Except as otherwise expressly provided in an agreement
transferring an aspect of an individual's right of publicity and
subject to division (C) of this section, a person to whom
ownership or any portion of ownership of an individual's right
of publicity has been transferred.
(B) Before bringing a civil action under this section, a
person who owns less than all of an individual's right of
publicity shall notify the individual whose right of publicity
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is the subject of the proposed action, if living, by electronic
mail or regular mail addressed to the last known address of that
individual. The person also shall notify any persons to whom the
individual's right of publicity has been transferred of the
proposed civil action by the following means:
(1) Regular mail addressed to the last known address of
each transferee;
(2) Electronic mail to each transferee;
(3) If the address or electronic mail address of the
transferee is not known, publication in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county in which the individual whose right of
publicity is the subject of the proposed civil action resides,
or, in the case of a deceased individual, in the county in which
the individual's estate has been or would have been admitted to
probate.
(C) The individual whose right of publicity is the subject
of the proposed civil action brought under this section, and any
person to whom ownership of that right of publicity has been
transferred, may object to the proposed civil action within
twenty days from the date of the mailing of the notice referred
to in division (B) of this section or sixty days from the date
of publication referred to in that division by giving written
notice of the objection to the person proposing the civil
action. If the individual or transferee does not object to the
civil action within the time period specified in this division,
the individual or transferee is forever barred from objecting to
that action.
A person may not bring a civil action under this section
if a person or persons, including the individual whose right of
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publicity is the subject of the proposed civil action, who
collectively own more than fifty per cent of the individual's
right of publicity object to the proposed civil action.
(D) A person, other than a licensee of an individual's
right of publicity, who owns less than all of an individual's
right of publicity and who brings a civil action under this
chapter shall account to any other person owning an interest in
that right of publicity to the extent of the other person's
interest with respect to any net recovery in a civil action less
the person's costs of collection and reasonable attorney's fees.
Sec. 2741.09. (A) This chapter does not apply to any of
the following:
(1)(a) A literary work, dramatic work, fictional work,
historical work, audiovisual work, or musical work regardless of
the media in which the work appears or is transmitted, other
than an advertisement or commercial announcement not exempt
under division (A)(1)(d) of this section or an audiovisual work
with a modified facsimile of an individual's persona wherein a
reasonable trier of fact would confuse the modified facsimile
and the individual;
(b) Material that has political or newsworthy value;
(c) Original works of fine art;
(d) An advertisement or commercial announcement for a use
permitted by division (A)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of this section.
(2) The use of an individual's name to truthfully identify
the individual as the author of or contributor to a written work
or the performer of a recorded performance under circumstances
in which the written work or the recorded performance is
otherwise lawfully reproduced, exhibited, or broadcast;
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(3) The use of an aspect of an individual's persona in
connection with the broadcast or reporting of an event or topic
of general or public interest;
(4) The use of the persona of an individual solely in the
individual's role as a member of the public if the individual is
not named or otherwise singled out as an individual;
(5) A use of an individual's persona by an institution of
higher education if all of the following apply:
(a) The individual is or was a student at, or a member of
the faculty or staff of, the institution of higher education.
(b) The use of the individual's persona is for educational
purposes or for the promotion of the institution of higher
education and its educational or institutional objectives.
(6) A use of the persona of an individual that is
protected by the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution as long as the use does not convey or reasonably
suggest endorsement by the individual whose persona is at issue ;
(7) A radio or television broadcasting station, including
a cable or satellite television operator, programmer, producer,
or streaming service, when the station receives consideration in
exchange for broadcasting, distributing, or exhibiting material
that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter .
(B) This chapter does not affect rights or privileges
recognized under the Ohio Constitution or United States
Constitution.
Sec. 2742.01. As used in this chapter:
(A) "Deepfake recording" means any visual or audio media
in an electronic format, video recording, or sound recording
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that is created or altered in a manner such that it falsely
appears to be an authentic record of the actual speech or
conduct of an individual depicted in the media or recording.
(B) "Malicious deepfake recording" means a deepfake
recording created or altered by, or on behalf of, a person that
intends to cause harm to another person due to the false nature
of the speech or conduct recorded or depicted therein.
(C) "Recording" means visual or audio media in an
electronic format, video recording, or sound recording.
Sec. 2742.02. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this
section, no person shall, without written consent of the
depicted individual, do either of the following:
(1) Prepare, produce, or develop any malicious deepfake
recording of an individual's voice, image, or likeness to
distribute to, exhibit to, or exchange with others;
(2) Offer to distribute, exhibit, or exchange with others
a malicious deepfake recording.
(B) No person shall recklessly distribute any malicious
deepfake recording.
(C) Divisions (A) and (B) of this section do not apply to
any malicious deepfake recording that meets either of the
following criteria:
(1) The material does not include a political or campaign
advertisement, and appears in a context that would cause a
reasonable person to believe that the material is inauthentic,
such as in a parody or fictionalized movie.
(2) The material, which may include a political or
campaign advertisement, includes a disclaimer to which all of
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the following apply:
(a) It is included in a conspicuous place on the material
or is contained or included within the media or recording.
(b) It states that the media or recording has been
materially altered in a manner that renders it fictionalized and
inauthentic.
(c) It identifies the name and contact information of the
entity that is responsible for creating or distributing the
media or recording.
(D) The exceptions provided in division (C) of this
section do not apply to a malicious deepfake recording that is
pornographic or that falsely depicts or records the speech or
conduct of an individual who is under seventeen years of age.
(E) Divisions (A) and (B) of this section do not apply to
a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or
satellite television operator, programmer, producer, or
streaming service, when the station receives consideration in
exchange for broadcasting, distributing, or exhibiting a
malicious deepfake recording.
Sec. 2742.03. (A) An individual injured by a violation of
division (A) or (B) of section 2742.02 of the Revised Code may
commence a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction
against the person that violates that division for any of the
following:
(1) Either actual damages or, at the election of the
plaintiff, statutory damages in an amount of at least two
thousand five hundred dollars, and not more than ten thousand
dollars, as determined in the discretion of the trier of fact,
taking into account the willfulness of the violation, the harm
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to the individual in question, and the ability of the defendant
to pay a civil damage award;
(2) Punitive or exemplary damages pursuant to section
2315.21 of the Revised Code, if applicable;
(3) Temporary or permanent injunctive relief.
(B)(1) In addition to the remedies described in division
(A) of this section, if the plaintiff establishes by a
preponderance of the evidence that the defendant violated
section 2905.11 of the Revised Code in relation to the violation
of division (A) or (B) of section 2742.02 of the Revised Code,
the court shall additionally award the plaintiff statutory
damages based on the amount the defendant extorts or attempts to
extort from the plaintiff whose voice, image, or likeness is
used in the deepfake recording. The amount of statutory damages
shall be determined subject to the following limitations:
(a) If the value of the thing of value or valuable benefit
involved in the violation of section 2905.11 of the Revised Code
is less than one thousand dollars, the amount of statutory
damages shall not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars.
(b) If the value of the thing of value or valuable benefit
involved in the violation of section 2905.11 of the Revised Code
is at least one thousand dollars, but less than seven thousand
five hundred dollars, the amount of statutory damages shall not
exceed five thousand dollars.
(c) If the value of the thing of value or valuable benefit
involved in the violation of section 2905.11 of the Revised Code
is at least seven thousand five hundred dollars, but less than
one hundred fifty thousand dollars, the amount of statutory
damages shall not exceed ten thousand dollars.
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(d) If the value of the thing of value or valuable benefit
involved in the violation of section 2905.11 of the Revised Code
is one hundred fifty thousand dollars or more, the amount of
statutory damages shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars.
(2) A conviction of or plea of guilty to a violation of
section 2905.11 of the Revised Code is not required for an award
of statutory damages under division (B)(1) of this section.
(C) No action under this section shall be initiated more
than four years after the alleged violation of division (A) or
(B) of section 2742.02 of the Revised Code.
(D) The court in which an action under this section is
initiated may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney's
fees, court costs, and reasonable expenses associated with the
civil action.
(E) As part of a final judgment, a court may order the
destruction or other reasonable disposition of a malicious
deepfake recording, including by requiring the defendant to take
affirmative steps to cause others to take down the malicious
deepfake recording and by requiring the defendant to indemnify
the plaintiff for any past or future expenses associated with
the plaintiff's efforts to have the malicious deepfake recording
removed or destroyed.
(F) The trier of fact shall include any profits derived
from, and attributable to, a violation of division (A) or (B) of
section 2742.02 of the Revised Code in calculating the award of
actual damages under this section.
Sec. 2742.04. (A) The remedies provided for in this
chapter are in addition to any other remedies provided for by
state or federal statute or common law.
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(B) Any person that purchases a deepfake recording, while
holding a good-faith belief that the recording is authentic, may
commence a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction
against a person who violates division (A) or (B) of section
2742.02 of the Revised Code for either of the following:
(1) Treble the amount of the actual economic damages;
(2) At the direction of the plaintiff, statutory damages
in the amount of two hundred fifty dollars.
Sec. 2905.11. (A) As used in this section and section
2905.111 of the Revised Code:
(1) "Elderly person" and "disabled adult" have the same
meanings as in section 2913.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Information service" and "telecommunications service"
have the same meanings as in the "Telecommunications Act of
1996," 47 U.S.C. 153, as amended.
(3) "Interactive computer service" has the same meaning as
in the "Telecommunications Act of 1996," 47 U.S.C. 230, as
amended.
(4) "Nudity," "sexual activity," and "sexual excitement"
have the same meanings as in section 2907.01 of the Revised
Code.
(5) "Private images" means images of sexual activity,
masturbation, sexual excitement, nudity, bestiality, extreme or
bizarre violence, cruelty, or brutality, or human bodily
functions of elimination.
(6) "Threat" includes a direct threat and a threat by
innuendo.
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(B)(B)(1) No person, with purpose to obtain any valuable
thing or valuable benefit or to induce another to do an unlawful
act, shall do any of the following:
(1)(a) Threaten to commit any felony;
(2)(b) Threaten to commit any offense of violence;
(3)(c) Violate section 2903.21 or 2903.22 of the Revised
Code;
(4)(d) Utter or threaten any calumny against any person;
(5)(e) Expose or threaten to expose any matter tending to
subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or to
damage any person's personal or business repute, or to impair
any person's credit.
(2) A person violates division (B)(1)(d) or (e) of this
section by distributing, exhibiting, or exchanging a malicious
deepfake recording that falsely depicts or records the speech or
conduct of another individual, in violation of division (A) or
(B) of section 2742.02 of the Revised Code, or by threatening to
do so.
(C) Whoever violates division (B) of this section is
guilty of extortion, a felony of the third degree.
(D) No person, with purpose to do any of the following,
shall threaten to release, exhibit, or distribute the private
images of another:
(1) Compel or attempt to compel the other person, against
the other person's will, to perform any act or refrain from
performing any act;
(2) Induce the other person to commit an offense;
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(3) Obtain additional private images from the other
person;
(4) Obtain anything of value from the other person.
(E) Whoever violates division (D) of this section is
guilty of sexual extortion. The penalty for the offense shall be
determined as follows:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (E)(2) or (3)
of this section, sexual extortion is a felony of the third
degree.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (E)(3) of
this section, if the offender previously has been convicted of
or pleaded guilty to a violation of division (D) of this section
or if the offense involves sexual extortion of a person under
the age of eighteen, an elderly person, or a disabled adult,
sexual extortion is a felony of the second degree.
(3) If the offender has previously been convicted of or
pleaded guilty to two or more violations of division (D) of this
section or if the offender has previously been convicted of or
pleaded guilty to an offense involving sexual extortion of a
person under the age of eighteen, an elderly person, or a
disabled adult and the offender knows or has reason to know that
the person is under the age of eighteen, an elderly person, or a
disabled adult, sexual extortion is a felony of the first
degree.
(F) A prosecution for a violation of division (D) of this
section does not preclude a prosecution of a violation of
division (B) of this section. One or more acts, a series of
acts, or a course of behavior that can be prosecuted under
division (D) of this section or division (B) of this section may
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be prosecuted under division (D) of this section, division (B)
of this section, or both divisions. However, if an offender is
convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of division (D) of
this section and also is convicted of or pleads guilty to a
violation of division (B) of this section based on the same
conduct involving the same victim that was the basis of the
violation of division (D) of this section, the two offenses are
allied offenses of similar import under section 2941.25 of the
Revised Code.
(G)(1) No person shall assert a cause of action in any
court of this state against any provider of an information
service, an interactive computer service, or a
telecommunications service, or against any agent, employee, or
officer of such provider, for any injury, death, or loss to
person or property that allegedly arises out of the provider's,
officer's, employee's, or agent's provision of information,
facilities, or assistance in accordance with the terms of a
court order that is issued in relation to the investigation or
prosecution of an alleged violation of division (D) of this
section.
(2) A provider of an information service, an interactive
computer service, or a telecommunications service, or any agent,
employee, or officer of such provider, is immune from any civil
or criminal liability for injury, death, or loss to person or
property that allegedly arises out of the provider's, officer's,
employee's, or agent's provision of information, facilities, or
assistance in accordance with the terms of a court order that is
issued in relation to the investigation or prosecution of an
alleged violation of division (D) of this section.
(H)(1)(a) A person shall not be considered to have
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violated division (D) of this section solely for providing
access or connection to or from an electronic method of remotely
transferring information not under that person's control,
including having provided capabilities that are incidental to
providing access or connection to or from the electronic method
of remotely transferring the information and that do not include
the creation of the content of the material that is the subject
of the access or connection.
(b) Any person providing access or connection to or from
an electronic method of remotely transferring information not
under that person's control shall not be liable for any action
voluntarily taken in good faith to block the receipt or
transmission through its service of any information that the
person believes is, or will be, sent in violation of division
(D) of this section.
(2) Division (H)(1) of this section does not create an
affirmative duty for any person providing access or connection
to or from an electronic method of remotely transferring
information not under that person's control to block the receipt
or transmission through its service of any information that it
believes is, or will be sent, in violation of division (D) of
this section, except as otherwise provided by law.
(3) Division (H)(1) of this section does not apply to a
person who conspires with another person actively involved in
the creation or knowing distribution of material in violation of
division (D) of this section, or who knowingly advertises the
availability of material of that nature.
(4)(a) A provider or user of an interactive computer
service shall neither be treated as the publisher nor speaker of
any information provided by another information content
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477 H. B. No. 185 Page 18
As Introduced
provider, nor shall such a person be held civilly or criminally
liable for the creation or development of information provided
by another information content provider.
(b) Nothing in division (H)(4)(a) of this section shall be
construed as protecting a person from liability to the extent
that the person developed or created any content in violation of
division (D) of this section.
Section 2. That existing sections 2741.01, 2741.02,
2741.05, 2741.06, 2741.09, and 2905.11 of the Revised Code are
hereby repealed.
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