H.R. 9112

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9112 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9112

To provide visuals artists the exclusive right to authorize the 
commercial exploitation, or public distribution in or affecting 
interstate commerce of a stylistic impersonation of that visual artist, 
and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 2, 2026

Ms. Van Duyne (for herself, Ms. Clarke of New York, and Mrs. Foushee) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To provide visuals artists the exclusive right to authorize the 
commercial exploitation, or public distribution in or affecting 
interstate commerce of a stylistic impersonation of that visual artist, 
and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Creative Rights Ensuring Artists' 
Technique and Originality are Reserved Act'' or the ``CREATOR Act''.

SEC. 2. RIGHT AGAINST STYLISTIC IMPERSONATION.

(a) Grant of Right.--Subject to the limitations and exclusions of 
this Act, each visual artist or right holder shall have the exclusive 
right to authorize the commercial exploitation, or public distribution 
in or affecting interstate commerce of a stylistic impersonation of 
that visual artist.
(b) Nature of the Right.--The right established under this 
section--
(1) is a Federal intellectual property right distinct from 
copyright and trademark;
(2) does not extend to ideas, concepts, genres, artistic 
movements, commonly used visual styles, or artistic methods 
that are not publicly associated with the work of a visual 
artist;
(3) applies only to deliberate stylistic impersonation as 
defined in this Act;
(4) shall not be construed to prohibit general artistic 
influence, independent human authorship, or non-material 
artificial intelligence assistance; and
(5) is licensable and assignable, in whole or in part, on 
an exclusive basis by written agreement.
(c) Duration and Registration.--
(1) Living visual artists.--For a living visual artist, the 
right shall subsist for the life of the visual artist.
(2) Deceased visual artists.--For a deceased visual artist, 
the right shall subsist for 10 years after death and may be 
renewed in 5-year increments, up to a maximum of 50 years after 
death.
(3) Renewal.--Renewal of a post-mortem right shall be 
effective only upon filing a notice with the Register of 
Copyrights identifying--
(A) the deceased artist;
(B) the right holder; and
(C) such additional information as the Register of 
Copyrights may reasonably require.
(d) Directory of Post-Mortem Rights.--The Register of Copyrights 
shall maintain a publicly accessible online directory of registered 
post-mortem rights under this Act.
(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to limit the ability of a visual artist or right holder to authorize 
conduct that would otherwise constitute stylistic impersonation under 
this Act.

SEC. 3. LIABILITY.

(a) Conduct Giving Rise to Liability.--A person shall be liable 
under this Act only if, in or affecting interstate commerce, the person 
knowingly engages in one of the following acts without authorization:
(1) Offering for sale, selling, licensing, publicly 
distributing, or otherwise commercially exploiting a stylistic 
impersonation of a visual artist.
(2) Developing and expressly marketing for commercial 
distribution a product or service that is both--
(A) intentionally configured for the purpose of 
generating stylistic impersonations of one or more 
visual artists; and
(B) promoted as capable of generating such 
stylistic impersonations.
(b) Protection for General-Purpose Artificial Intelligence 
Systems.--
(1) In general.--The development, distribution, licensing, 
or provision of a general-purpose artificial intelligence 
system shall not give rise to liability under this Act unless 
the provider of the system is both--
(A) intentionally configured the system for the 
purpose of generating stylistic impersonations of a 
specifically identified visual artist; and
(B) expressly marketed the system as capable of 
generating such stylistic impersonations.
(2) Exception for mere capability.--Mere capability of a 
system to generate outputs resembling the distinctive visual 
characteristics of a visual artist, or the independent actions 
of a user of a general-purpose artificial intelligence system, 
shall not give rise to liability absent the conduct described 
in paragraph (1).
(c) Knowledge or Notice Requirement.--
(1) Persons other than online services.--
(A) In general.--A person other than an online 
service shall be liable under subsection (a) only if 
the person knew, or deliberately avoided confirming, 
that the work met the definition of stylistic 
impersonation of a specifically identified visual 
artist under this Act.
(B) Limitation.--No person shall be deemed to have 
such knowledge solely by reason of the general 
capability of a system to generate outputs resembling 
the works of a visual artist.
(2) Online services.--An online service shall not be liable 
for user-generated content unless, after receipt of a valid 
notice under section 5 or a court order, the service knowingly 
fails to act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the 
user-generated content identified in the notice as constituting 
a stylistic impersonation.

SEC. 4. EXCLUSIONS.

(a) Excluded Activities.--The following uses shall not constitute a 
violation of this Act, provided that such uses do not involve the 
commercial exploitation of a stylistic impersonation intended to 
mislead as to source, sponsorship, or approval--
(1) commentary, criticism, scholarship, research, or 
teaching;
(2) parody or satire that comments upon or critiques the 
identified visual artist or the distinctive visual 
characteristics at issue;
(3) historical, biographical, or documentary works, 
including reasonable fictionalization, where the use does not 
falsely suggest endorsement or authorization;
(4) news reporting or public affairs commentary in which 
reference to the distinctive visual characteristics is 
materially relevant to the subject matter; and
(5) uses resulting in fleeting, incidental, or negligible 
resemblance that do not reproduce a material combination of 
distinctive visual characteristics.
(b) Obscenity.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
exempt from liability the use of a stylistic impersonation in material 
that is obscene under applicable law.

SEC. 5. ONLINE SERVICE SAFE HARBORS.

(a) Limitation on Liability for Online Services.--An online service 
shall not be liable for a violation under section 3 arising from user-
generated content if the service--
(1) has designated an agent to receive notifications of 
claimed violations under this Act;
(2) upon receipt of a valid notice under subsection (b), 
acts expeditiously to remove or disable access to the 
identified material; and
(3) adopts and reasonably implements a policy providing for 
the termination, in appropriate circumstances, of repeat 
violators.
(b) No Requirement To Monitor.--No online service shall be required 
to monitor user content proactively or to affirmatively seek facts 
indicating potential violations of this Act.
(c) Notification Requirements.--A notification of claimed violation 
under this Act shall include--
(1) identification of the visual artist whose work is 
allegedly impersonated;
(2) identification of the material claimed to constitute a 
stylistic impersonation;
(3) a statement that the notifying party has a good-faith 
belief that the use is not authorized; and
(4) information reasonably sufficient to permit the online 
service to contact the notifying party.
(d) Counter-Notification and Restoration.--
(1) Submission.--A user whose material has been removed or 
disabled pursuant to a notification under this section may 
submit a counter-notification stating, under penalty of 
perjury, that the material was removed or disabled as a result 
of mistake or misidentification.
(2) Notification.--Upon receipt of a valid counter-
notification, the online service shall promptly notify the 
original notifying party.
(3) Restoration.--The online service may restore the 
removed material not less than 10 business days and not more 
than 14 business days after receipt of the counter-notification 
unless the notifying party provides notice that a civil action 
has been filed seeking a court order restraining the user from 
engaging in the allegedly unlawful activity.
(e) Misrepresentation and Abuse of Process.--
(1) Liability.--Any person who knowingly and materially 
misrepresents that material constitutes a stylistic 
impersonation shall be liable for--
(A) actual damages suffered by the alleged 
violator;
(B) costs and reasonable attorneys' fees; and
(C) statutory damages of not less than $5,000 per 
material misrepresentation.
(2) Failure to conduct evaluation.--A failure to conduct a 
reasonable and good-faith evaluation of whether the material 
meets the definition of stylistic impersonation may constitute 
a knowing material misrepresentation.
(3) Repeated bad-faith notifications.--Repeated bad-faith 
notifications may result in suspension of notice privileges 
under this Act.

SEC. 6. CIVIL ACTIONS AND REMEDIES.

(a) Civil Action.--
(1) In general.--A civil action under this Act may be 
brought by a right holder against a person who violates section 
3.
(2) Safe harbors.--A person whose conduct falls within the 
limitations or safe harbors provided in sections 3 or 5 shall 
not be liable under this Act.
(b) Remedies.--In a civil action under this Act, the court may 
award the following:
(1) Injunctive relief.--Temporary or permanent injunctive 
relief that is narrowly tailored to prevent ongoing or future 
violations of this Act.
(2) Other relief.--At the election of the prevailing 
plaintiff, either--
(A) actual damages suffered by the right holder and 
any profits of the violator attributable to the 
violation; or
(B) statutory damages as provided in paragraph (3).
(3) Statutory damages.--Statutory damages may be awarded, 
in lieu of actual damages and profits, as follows:
(A) For a commercial actor that intentionally 
engaged in stylistic impersonation: not less than 
$10,000 and not more than $100,000 per stylistic 
impersonation work commercially exploited.
(B) For willful violations involving intentional 
targeting and commercial exploitation: not less than 
$50,000 and not more than $150,000 per work.
(4) Considerations for statutory damages.--In determining 
statutory damages, the court or jury, as applicable, shall 
consider--
(A) the willfulness of the conduct;
(B) the scale and duration of dissemination;
(C) the commercial impact on the right holder;
(D) the defendant's efforts to comply with this 
Act; and
(E) whether the defendant qualifies for any 
limitation on liability under this Act.
(c) No Award of Statutory Damages.--Statutory damages shall not be 
awarded where the defendant establishes that the conduct falls within a 
limitation, exclusion, or safe harbor under this Act.

SEC. 7. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

(a) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed--
(1) to limit, expand, or replace copyright protection under 
title 17, United States Code;
(2) to grant exclusive rights over ideas, concepts, genres, 
artistic movements, or commonly used visual styles methods;
(3) to impose a duty on any online service or provider of a 
general-purpose artificial intelligence system to monitor 
content proactively or to affirmatively seek facts indicating 
potential violations of this Act;
(4) to prohibit lawful artistic influence, stylistic 
evolution, independent human authorship, or non-material use of 
artificial intelligence;
(5) to create liability for the mere development, 
availability, or licensing of an artificial intelligence system 
absent intentional targeting as defined in this Act; or
(6) to restrict speech protected by the First Amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States.
(b) No Training Data Inference.--The mere capacity of an artificial 
intelligence system to generate outputs that resemble or incorporate 
distinctive visual characteristics publicly associated with a visual 
artist shall not give rise to any presumption, inference, or 
evidentiary showing that--
(1) the system was trained on any specific work of that 
visual artist; or
(2) any particular dataset containing works associated with 
that visual artist was used in the training, fine-tuning, or 
operation of the system.
(c) Limitation on Civil Action.--No civil action under this Act may 
be predicated solely on claims regarding the training data, training 
process, or internal parameters of an artificial intelligence system, 
except to the extent such claims are independently actionable under 
other applicable law.

SEC. 8. PREEMPTION.

(a) Limited Preemption.--This Act shall preempt State law causes of 
action only to the extent that such causes of action impose liability 
for conduct that constitutes stylistic impersonation as defined in this 
Act.
(b) Preservation of Other Law.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to preempt or limit--
(1) State or Federal copyright law;
(2) State or Federal trademark or false endorsement law;
(3) State right-of-publicity or misappropriation claims 
based on name, likeness, voice, or other protected personal 
attributes; or
(4) State unfair competition or consumer protection laws 
that regulate deceptive or misleading commercial conduct 
independent of stylistic impersonation as defined in this Act.

SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision 
to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this 
Act and the application of its remaining provisions shall not be 
affected.

SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Artificial intelligence system.--The term ``artificial 
intelligence system'' means a machine-based system that infers 
from input data how to generate visual expressive content in 
fixed or static form and that operates with a degree of 
autonomy beyond purely deterministic rule-based automation.
(2) Artist.--The term ``artist'' means a human individual 
who has created and publicly distributed or exhibited original 
visual works of authorship.
(3) Authorization.--The term ``authorization'' means 
express written permission granted by the applicable right 
holder for the commercial exploitation or public distribution 
of a stylistic impersonation.
(4) Distinctive visual characteristics.--The term 
``distinctive visual characteristics'' means identifiable 
visual elements, taken together, that are consistently present 
in a visual artist's publicly distributed works and that are 
publicly associated with that artist.
(5) General-purpose artificial intelligence system.--The 
term ``general-purpose artificial intelligence system'' means 
an artificial intelligence system designed for a broad range of 
lawful uses and not primarily configured to generate works 
emulating the distinctive visual characteristics of a 
specifically identified visual artist.
(6) Material.--The term ``material'' means significant in 
relation to the work as a whole and not merely incidental or de 
minimis.
(7) Online service.--The term ``online service'' means a 
provider of an interactive computer service, as defined in 
section 230(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
230(f)), that hosts, transmits, indexes, or provides access to 
user-generated content.
(8) Public distribution.--The term ``public distribution'' 
means making a work available to the public, whether for sale 
or otherwise, by offering it for sale, display, transmission, 
posting, publication on a website or online service, or other 
means of public dissemination.
(9) Right holder.--The term ``right holder'' means--
(A) the visual artist; or
(B) a person or entity that has lawfully acquired, 
by written assignment, inheritance, or operation of 
law, one or more of the exclusive right granted under 
this Act.
(10) Specifically identified visual artist.--The term 
``specifically identified visual artist'' means a visual artist 
whose name or one or more distinctive visual characteristics is 
expressly referenced in the prompting, configuration, 
marketing, or operation of an artificial intelligence system, 
or in the promotion of the resulting output.
(11) Stylistic impersonation.--
(A) In general.--The term ``stylistic 
impersonation'' means a visual work generated in whole 
or in material part through the use of an artificial 
intelligence system that--
(i) was intentionally configured, prompted, 
marketed, or otherwise designed to emulate the 
distinctive visual characteristics publicly 
associated with a visual artist; and
(ii) reproduces a combination of those 
distinctive visual characteristics in a manner 
likely to mislead a reasonable viewer as to the 
source, sponsorship, or approval of the work or 
to affect the commercial market for the visual 
artist's work.
(B) Intentional design.--For purposes of 
subparagraph (A), intentional design may be established 
by evidence that the artificial intelligence system or 
its operator--
(i) expressly referenced the visual artist 
or their work in prompts, configuration 
settings, or user-facing interfaces;
(ii) marketed or promoted the system or the 
resulting output as capable of imitating the 
visual artist's work; or
(iii) configured the system for the purpose 
to produce outputs substantially reflecting the 
visual artist's distinctive visual 
characteristics.
(C) Limitation.--The term ``stylistic 
impersonation'' does not include--
(i) works reflecting general artistic 
influence, genre conventions, or historical 
movements;
(ii) works created through independent 
human authorship without deliberate targeting 
of a specifically identified visual artist's 
work;
(iii) parody, satire, commentary, 
scholarship, or other expressive uses protected 
under section 4; or
(iv) works generated by a general-purpose 
artificial intelligence system absent evidence 
of intentional targeting of a specifically 
identified visual artist's work.
(12) Visual work.--The term ``visual work'' means a work 
consisting of a fixed or static visual image, including 
illustrations, photographs, graphic designs, paintings, 
drawings, or similar visual media, but does not include motion 
pictures, audiovisual works, or sound recordings.

SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

(a) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect 180 days after the 
enactment of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Prospective Application.--This Act shall apply only to conduct 
occurring on or after the effective date.
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