Bill Text: NY S06859 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requires advertisements to disclose the use of a synthetic performer; imposes a $1,000 civil penalty for a first violation and a $5,000 penalty for any subsequent violation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-04 - PRINT NUMBER 6859A [S06859 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S06859-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6859

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 11, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. GIANARIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection

        AN ACT to amend the general  business  law,  in  relation  to  requiring
          advertisements to disclose the use of synthetic media

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 396-b of the general  business  law,  as  added  by
     2  chapter 1031 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows:
     3    §  396-b.  Advertisements. 1. For purposes of this section, "synthetic
     4  media" means any human voice, photograph, image, video  or  other  human
     5  likeness  created, reproduced, or modified by computer, using artificial
     6  intelligence or software algorithm, to be indistinguishable to a reason-
     7  able viewer from a natural person.
     8    2. Any person, firm, corporation or association, or agent or  employee
     9  thereof,  hereinafter  called person, who, being engaged in the business
    10  of dealing in any property, makes, publishes,  disseminates,  circulates
    11  or  places  before  the  public or causes, directly or indirectly, to be
    12  made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before  the  public,
    13  in  this  state,  any advertisement respecting any such property, in any
    14  newspaper, magazine, or other publication, or over any radio station  or
    15  television  station,  unless it is stated in any such advertisement that
    16  the advertiser is a dealer in such property or from the context  of  any
    17  such  advertisement,  it plainly appears that such person is a dealer in
    18  such property so offered for sale in any  such  advertisement;  or  when
    19  placing  or  causing  any such advertisement to appear in any newspaper,
    20  magazine  or  other  publication  or  radio  or  television  station  as
    21  described  in  this  section,  if requested by the publisher of any such
    22  newspaper, magazine or other publication or owner or  operator  of  such
    23  radio  or  television  station or any agent or representative thereof to
    24  file with such owner or operator,  publisher,  agent  or  representative
    25  thereof  his true name, or where he is transacting business under a name

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01400-05-3
        S. 6859                             2

     1  other than the true name pursuant to law, then the name under which such
     2  business is transacted, and each business address wherein  any  business
     3  is  transacted  by  him,  in  the  class of property advertised or to be
     4  advertised  for  sale in such advertisement, shall make any false state-
     5  ment in relation to any of such items; or if requested by the  publisher
     6  of  any such newspaper, magazine or other publication or owner or opera-
     7  tor of such radio or television station or any agent  or  representative
     8  thereof to file with such owner, operator, publisher, agent or represen-
     9  tative thereof a statement showing whether he is causing such advertise-
    10  ment to appear or is offering to make such sale or disposition or trans-
    11  action,  as herein set forth, as principal or agent, and if as agent, to
    12  set forth such information as is specified in this section, in  relation
    13  to his principal as well as in relation to himself, shall make any false
    14  statement in relation to any of such items; is guilty of a misdemeanor.
    15    3.  Any  person  engaged in the business of dealing in any property or
    16  service who for any commercial purpose makes,  publishes,  disseminates,
    17  circulates  or places before the public or causes, directly or indirect-
    18  ly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the
    19  public any advertisement respecting any such property or service, in any
    20  medium or media in which such advertisement appears, shall  disclose  in
    21  such  advertisement  if  synthetic media is in such advertisement, where
    22  such person knows or should have known.
    23    (a) If synthetic media has been used in any  commercial  advertisement
    24  under  this  section to create a likeness that depicts a natural person,
    25  without that person's consent, engaged in any action  or  expression  in
    26  which  the  natural  person  did not actually engage, such advertisement
    27  shall include a disclaimer which clearly and conspicuously  states  that
    28  such  likeness  featured  in  such  advertisement is synthetic, does not
    29  depict a natural person, and is generated to create a human likeness.
    30    (b) It shall not be a defense to an action under this or any other law
    31  that the disclaimer required under paragraph (a) of this subdivision has
    32  been included if the synthetic media depicts a  natural  person  without
    33  such natural person's consent.
    34    (c) A violation of this subdivision shall result in a civil penalty of
    35  one  thousand  dollars  for a first violation, and five thousand dollars
    36  for any subsequent violation.
    37    4. Nothing in this section shall limit or reduce any rights any person
    38  may have under section fifty, fifty-f, or fifty-one of the civil  rights
    39  law or under any other law.
    40    5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, or to enlarge,
    41  the  protections  that  47  U.S.C. section 230 confers on an interactive
    42  computer service for content provided  by  another  information  content
    43  provider, as such terms are defined in 47 U.S.C. section 230.
    44    § 2. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
    45  sion,  section  or  part  of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of
    46  competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment  shall  not  affect,
    47  impair,  or  invalidate  the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
    48  its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdivision,  section
    49  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
    50  ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
    51  the  legislature  that  this  act  would  have been enacted even if such
    52  invalid provisions had not been included herein.
    53    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.