You've always had legal protection
The laws protecting your name, face, and likeness have been around for decades. Here is how they still apply when AI is involved.
Old rights still apply to new tools
Long before generative AI existed, the law recognized that people have rights over their name, image, and likeness. Those protections did not appear overnight and they did not disappear when new technology arrived. If someone uses your face without your permission, the same legal frameworks that have protected people for decades still apply today.
What changed is the scale and speed of potential misuse, not the underlying rights. A deepfake or an AI-generated image of your face is still an unauthorized use of your likeness, and the legal system treats it that way. The tools may be new, but the violations are familiar.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act
The TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed into law in May 2025, is one of the most direct protections available today. It makes it a federal crime to publish nonconsensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes of real people. It also requires platforms to remove flagged content within 48 hours of a verified request from the person depicted. The FTC enforces these platform requirements, and covered sites must have their notice-and-removal processes in place by May 2026.
This law was written with modern AI misuse in mind. It explicitly covers computer-generated "digital forgeries," meaning deepfakes created from your likeness are treated the same as stolen photographs. It also clarifies that consenting to the creation of an image does not equal consent to share it.
The DMCA
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act offers another avenue for removal. If someone took a photo you shot of yourself and reposted or distributed it without your permission, you can file a DMCA takedown notice with the hosting platform. As the person who took the photo, you hold the copyright, and platforms are legally required to act on valid notices promptly.
While the DMCA is rooted in copyright rather than privacy, it is often one of the fastest ways to get infringing content pulled down because the process is well established and widely supported across virtually every major platform.
Right of publicity
The right of publicity gives you control over the commercial use of your identity. In most jurisdictions, no one can use your name, face, or likeness to sell products, promote services, or imply endorsement without your consent. This right exists in some form in the majority of U.S. states and in many countries around the world.
When someone generates AI content using your face to market a product or attract an audience, that is a right-of-publicity violation. It does not matter that the image was created by a machine rather than captured by a camera. What matters is that your identity was used for someone else's benefit without your permission.
Privacy torts
Privacy law offers several paths for people whose image has been misused. The most relevant are intrusion upon seclusion, public disclosure of private facts, and appropriation of likeness. Each addresses a different flavor of harm, but they share a common principle: you have a right to control how your personal image is used and shared.
Appropriation of likeness, in particular, applies directly to AI-generated content. If someone takes your face and places it in content you never agreed to, that is appropriation regardless of the technology used to create it. Courts have consistently held that the method of reproduction does not change the nature of the violation.
False endorsement and the Lanham Act
If AI-generated content makes it look like you are endorsing a product, service, or cause you have no connection to, false-endorsement protections come into play. Under the Lanham Act in the United States, anyone who uses another person's identity in a way that creates a false impression of sponsorship or approval can be held liable.
This applies to influencers, public figures, and private individuals alike. The standard is whether consumers or viewers would reasonably believe you endorsed the content. When your face appears in promotional material you never agreed to, that standard is often met.
You are not starting from zero
It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you see your face used without your consent, especially when the content was generated by AI. But the legal landscape is not a blank page. Decades of case law, established statutes, and regulatory frameworks already cover the core issue: your likeness belongs to you. The technology changed, but your rights did not.