CREATOR Act
Sponsored By: Representative Van Duyne, Beth [R-TX-24]
Introduced
Summary
This bill would create a new federal exclusive right giving visual artists control over the commercial exploitation or public distribution of deliberate stylistic impersonations of their work. It would pair that right with tailored liability rules for general-purpose artificial intelligence systems and safe-harbor procedures for online services while preserving common artistic influence and certain free-speech uses.
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- Artists and heirs would get a licensable, assignable right that lasts for an artist's life. For deceased artists the right would last 10 years after death and could be renewed in 5-year increments up to 50 years.
- General-purpose AI providers would face liability only when a system is intentionally configured to impersonate a specifically identified visual artist and is expressly marketed as doing so. Online services would gain safe harbors if they adopt a notice agent, promptly remove identified material after valid notices, and have repeat-violator policies; they would not be required to proactively monitor content.
- Right holders could sue for injunctions and choose actual damages and profits or statutory damages. Statutory awards would start at $10,000 and could reach as high as $150,000 for willful, targeted commercial exploitation, while the Act exempts uses like commentary, parody, scholarship, news reporting, and incidental resemblance when not misrepresenting endorsement.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 3 mixed.
Big damages for commercial imitators
If enacted, a rights holder could sue for injunctive relief and money damages for unauthorized stylistic impersonation. Plaintiffs could choose actual damages plus the violator's profits or statutory damages instead. Statutory damages for commercial actors would be $10,000 to $100,000 per commercially exploited impersonation, and for willful targeting with commercial exploitation $50,000 to $150,000 per work. Anyone who knowingly files materially false notices could face actual damages, costs and fees, and at least $5,000 in statutory damages per misrepresentation.
Platform and AI liability rules
If enacted, the bill would set when online services and other actors are liable for stylistic impersonations and create a notice-and-takedown safe harbor for platforms that follow certain steps. A valid notice must name the artist, identify the material, state the use is not authorized, and give contact details. Platforms that designate an agent, act quickly to remove valid notices, and use a repeat-violator policy would get safe harbor; they would not be required to proactively monitor content. The bill would narrow liability for general-purpose AI: providers are liable only if they intentionally built and expressly marketed a system to generate impersonations of a specifically identified artist, and mere capability or output resemblance alone would not create liability.
New federal right for artists
If enacted, the bill would create a new federal exclusive right letting a visual artist or their rights holder control commercial uses that deliberately imitate the artist's distinctive style. For living artists the right would last for the artist's life. For a deceased artist the right would begin at death, last 10 years, and could be renewed in 5-year increments up to 50 years after death by filing a notice with the Register of Copyrights. The Register would keep a public online directory of registered post-mortem rights.
Protections for commentary and scholarship
If enacted, the bill would exclude many common speech and research uses from liability so long as they do not mislead about endorsement or approval. Exempt uses would include commentary, criticism, scholarship, research, teaching, parody or satire that comments on the artist, and historical or documentary works that do not falsely claim endorsement. News reporting materially related to distinctive characteristics and fleeting or incidental resemblance that does not reproduce a material combination are also excluded. The bill says obscene material is not exempt.
Limited preemption of state claims
If enacted, the bill would preempt state-law claims only to the extent those claims impose liability for conduct that meets the Act's definition of stylistic impersonation. The bill would preserve state and federal copyright and trademark claims, state right-of-publicity claims about name or likeness, and state unfair competition or consumer-protection laws that regulate deceptive conduct independent of stylistic impersonation.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Van Duyne, Beth [R-TX-24]
TX • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9]
NY • D
Sponsored 6/2/2026
Rep. Foushee, Valerie P. [D-NC-4]
NC • D
Sponsored 6/2/2026
Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/23/2026
Rep. Owens, Burgess [R-UT-4]
UT • R
Sponsored 6/23/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov