AI likeness and voice rules in China and the US since 2024

Tennessee’s ELVIS Act brings the voice under the state’s personal rights law to address AI voice cloning, and California’s AB 2602 limits contract clauses that let a digital replica stand in for a performer. Both are state laws.

The ELVIS Act (signed March 21, 2024)

The Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act updates Tennessee’s Protection of Personal Rights law by adding “voice” to what it protects, aimed at the misuse of artificial intelligence to copy a person’s voice.⁠¹

AB 2602 (in effect for performances from January 1, 2025)

AB 2602 is codified as section 927 of the California Labor Code. It covers new performances by a digital replica fixed on or after January 1, 2025.⁠²

A contract clause is unenforceable only when all three of these hold:⁠²

1. It allows a digital replica to be used in place of work the person would otherwise have performed in person.
2. It does not describe the intended uses of the replica reasonably specifically.
3. The person was neither represented by a lawyer in the negotiation nor covered by a union collective agreement that addresses digital replicas.

The second condition has an exception: under §927(a)(2)(B), a missing description does not make the clause unenforceable where the uses are consistent with the contract and the fundamental character of the work.⁠² What counts as a digital replica is explained in the glossary under Digital replica.

China’s Supreme People’s Court said on May 8, 2025 that using a voice processed with AI without the person’s permission infringes their rights in that voice.⁠³

The basis is Article 1023(2) of the Civil Code, which protects a person’s voice by applying the likeness rules of Articles 1018 to 1022.⁠³ The answer applies that provision expressly to AI-processed voices.

In a separate answer in the same set, on how to decide a service provider’s liability for harm to reputation, the court states that a provider that earns clicks and advertising income from content is not judged only on whether it forwarded notices and took content down: it also bears a duty of care that matches that income (Civil Code Articles 1195 and 1197).⁠³ That answer concerns reputation, not the voice.

Since September 1, 2025, no one in China may maliciously remove, alter, forge or hide the labels on AI-generated content (Measures for Labeling AI-Generated and Synthetic Content, Articles 10(2) and 14).⁠⁴ The same paragraph bars supplying tools or services for others to do so, and using improper labeling to harm anyone’s rights.⁠⁵

For face swaps and cloned voices, the measures bite at three points:

• The tool: a service that falls under Article 17(1) of the deep synthesis provisions must add a visible label to its output (Article 4 of the measures).⁠⁵ Article 17(1) covers, among others, voice synthesis and voice imitation, and face generation, face swapping and face manipulation, where the output could confuse or mislead the public.⁠⁶
• The person posting: a user who publishes AI-generated content must declare it and label it with the platform’s labeling function (Article 10(1)).⁠⁵
• The platform: it checks the file’s metadata for a hidden label and shows a notice next to the post; where there is no hidden label and no declaration but a visible label or other traces are detected, it flags the content as suspected AI-generated (Article 6).⁠⁵

These rules build on earlier ones. Article 18 of the deep synthesis provisions, in force since January 10, 2023, already barred anyone from using technical means to remove, alter or hide deep synthesis labels.⁠⁶

On April 21, 2026, YouTube announced that likeness detection was expanding to talent agencies, management companies and the celebrities they represent, and that a celebrity does not need a YouTube channel to use it.⁠⁷

• How it works: likeness detection works in a similar way to Content ID.⁠⁷
• Who backed the expansion: YouTube names CAA, UTA, WME and Untitled Management among the agencies and management companies that supported it.⁠⁷
• Voice: the announcement does not mention the voice.⁠⁷

What the tool detects, and the identity checks and country limits that apply, are set out under celebrities; the term is explained in the glossary under Likeness detection.

The TAKE IT DOWN Act covers non-consensual intimate images, including digital forgeries made with AI, and the US Federal Trade Commission has enforced it since May 19, 2026.⁠⁸

• Signed: May 19, 2025, a year before enforcement began.⁠⁸
• Platform duty: within 48 hours of a valid request, remove the content and any known identical copies.⁠⁸
• Scope: an AI copy of a person with no intimate content falls outside this 48-hour removal requirement.⁠⁸

As of October 2026, two of the six rules are Chinese, three are American and one is a YouTube tool; the TAKE IT DOWN Act is the one that sets a removal deadline, 48 hours from a valid request.⁠⁸ The other five deal with rights in the voice, contract terms, content labels and who may use a detection tool.

Date	Rule	Where	What it covers	Scope and conditions
March 21, 2024	ELVIS Act signed	Tennessee, US	The voice, added to personal rights law	Aimed at AI misuse of a person’s voice⁠1
January 1, 2025	AB 2602	California, US	Digital-replica clauses in contracts	New performances by a digital replica fixed on or after that date; a clause is unenforceable if it does not describe the uses reasonably specifically and the person had neither a lawyer nor a union agreement on digital replicas⁠2
May 8, 2025	Supreme People’s Court answer	China	Voices processed with AI	Use without the person’s permission is an infringement (Civil Code, Article 1023(2))⁠3
September 1, 2025	AI labeling measures in force	China	Labels on AI-generated content	Article 10(2): no one may maliciously remove, alter, forge or hide the labels⁠4
April 21, 2026	YouTube likeness detection expanded	YouTube	Who can use the detection tool	Talent agencies, management companies and the celebrities they represent, with or without a YouTube channel⁠7
May 19, 2026	FTC enforces the TAKE IT DOWN Act	US federal	Non-consensual intimate images, including ones created or altered with AI	Removal within 48 hours of a valid request; an AI copy with no intimate content falls outside it⁠8

What a celebrity can do about an AI copy is covered under What can a celebrity do when AI copies their face or voice?

Most of the common mistakes stretch a rule beyond its scope or put a duty on platforms alone. The five below were each checked against the original text on October 17, 2026.

Claim	What the source says	Source
The TAKE IT DOWN Act lets you get any AI deepfake taken down	It covers only non-consensual intimate images, including ones created or altered with AI	FTC enforcement guidance⁠8
YouTube likeness detection is only for creators with a channel	Celebrities represented by agencies and management companies can use it without a channel	YouTube Official Blog⁠7
AB 2602 voids every digital-replica clause	A clause is unenforceable only when all three conditions hold, and a missing description is excused where the uses fit the contract and the work	California Labor Code §927(a)⁠2
China’s AI labels are the platforms’ problem	Users must declare and label what they post, and no organization or individual may maliciously remove, alter, forge or hide a label	Labeling measures, Article 10(1) and (2)⁠5
Chinese law protects a person’s face but not their voice	The voice is protected by applying the likeness rules, and using an AI-processed voice without permission is an infringement	Civil Code Article 1023(2); Supreme People’s Court answer⁠3

This article summarizes public rules and is not legal advice.

MVP handles AI face swaps and voice imitation as part of its reputation and risk work for celebrities, influencers and entrepreneurs: it gathers evidence, files infringement notices with the platform and follows them up, and passes cases that need a lawsuit to outside law firms.

• Ongoing engagements include reputation monitoring and crisis response, handled by a fixed team; anyone without an ongoing engagement can bring in MVP for a single incident, billed as a project. See reputation and risk.
• Contracts: before signing, MVP reviews the risk clauses in management and commercial contracts. Legal work is done with outside law firms; MVP reviews contract risk and organizes evidence, and does not give legal opinions.
• Celebrities: MVP works as a service provider alongside the celebrity’s management company or studio, and any public response is issued in the name of the celebrity or their studio. See celebrities.

MVP (Mega Volume Production, 十方众声) is headquartered in Toronto and contracts through two companies, 北京十方众声传媒有限公司 and Mega Volume Production Inc., working in talent management and cross-border brand marketing. If an AI copy is already circulating, contact MVP.